Echoes of Screams
by Bedrock Armor
Summary: Star was tortured and manipulated. Marco was abused and bullied. Star suffers from constant nightmares and PTSD. Marco suffers from anxiety attacks and depression. What happens when they meet? Will their tortured pasts connect them together, or does everything only get worse? And most importantly, can they even survive their daily life without falling apart and losing their sanity?
1. Thrown Away

**Chapter 1: Thrown Away**

Marco hated his life.

After yet another day at school, he just wanted to relax. It's not that school itself was horrible, but rather it was the people there that made it horrible. But once he got home, he had been forced to clean the entire house by himself yet again. And if he missed anything, his uncle would yell at him and might even hit him again.

After spending four hours cleaning up the house while his aunt and uncle just lounged around the house, he also had to make dinner for them. And every day, after dinner, he was always confined to his room regardless of the time. On the bright side, at least this meant he didn't have to worry about his uncle or aunt for the rest of the night.

Marco's aunt and uncle barely took care of him. He was barely fed, and had very few clothes. His outfit always consisted of a cheap white tee shirt, cheap black jeans, and cheap shoes. But at least they were comfortable.

His anxiety didn't help, either. Sometimes, if he was put in a stressful situation, he was in danger of having an anxiety attack. It didn't always happen, but they were still horrible. His vision would blur, his body would shake, and he'd be overwhelmed by a crushing feeling of fear and panic. He would barely be able to hear anything, if he was able to still hear at all. The worst ones would have his vision go entirely black with more violent shaking. One time he even passed out altogether.

And to top it all off, he also suffers from depression and very low self esteem. If you were to ask him how highly he thinks of himself on a scale from one to ten, he'd answer with a zero. He practically hates himself. He berates himself every time he messes up, and even when he does something perfectly, he believes it's luck more than his own skills showing through.

Right now, it was the next morning, and Marco had school again today. Getting ready for school, Marco was deep in thought about the thousands of ways his life could've been better. Maybe if he had a friend or loving parents or didn't have anxiety, things might be better.

As he continued to get ready for school, a ripping sound caught his attention. In his yard, what looked like a portal of some sort appeared in his own yard. Something was heard from inside of it before a girl was harshly thrown through it, landing face down in the dirt. A small suitcase was then thrown through as well, hitting the girl in the back of the head, before the portal closed. This girl then let out a livid scream.

"Fine! I hate you too!" She shouted at the air where the portal had disappeared.

Heading outside, Marco heard the screams of the girl along with some magical noises. He was curious, and he still had some time before the bus arrived, so he decided to check it out.

As soon as he turned the corner, he was immediately tackled to the ground by this girl, who was aiming a glowing magic wand at his throat. Before she fired a spell that would kill him however, she looked into Marco's eyes.

He was scared, of course, but there was much more than that. His expression told her that he had been expecting to die in a way similar to this for a few years now. Like he had been randomly attacked before. He looked as though he had been through a lot in the past, and this was nothing more than another way life has tortured him.

He looked as though he didn't care if he died, as long as his death was quick.

Hands trembling, she dropped her magic wand and began crying heavily. "I'm so s-sorry! I-I-I don't know what I'm doing. I… everything's just been so horrible." She cried. "I just… I… I hate everything about my life. You can't understand how this feels. To be thrown away like nothing."

"Believe it or not, I… know… what it's like to feel like nothing."

"You… you do?" The girl said. "I'm… my name is Star. Star Butterfly. I'm sorry I almost killed you."

"Marco Diaz." He said shyly. As he got a better look at the girl, he noticed a few things about her. She had long blonde hair, a fancy dress, pale skin, and dull blue eyes. On her cheeks, there were two dull, gray broken hearts. And while he had literally just met Star, he had a feeling those weren't supposed to look like that, although he decided not to ask about it.

"Hey, um… do you know where I can find this place called 'Echo Creek High'? I've been told I need to go there and hand some papers over to this 'principal' person." Star said.

"Well, uh… I was actually waiting for the bus that takes me there before you, uh… you know." Marco said.

"Can I get on the bus with you?" She asked, getting up off of his chest and putting her wand in her small suitcase.

"Um, s-sure." Marco agreed. Star stood up and extended a hand towards Marco, still on the ground, who looked at it in confusion. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm helping you up, of course. It's what friends do." Star said. Marco just looked at her. "You do have friends, right?" She asked innocently.

Marco shyly averted his eyes. "Um, no. I… I've never had any friends before." He admitted. His body stiffened up when she wrapped her arms around him. "Uh, w-what are you doing?"

"I-I don't know, it just… feels right." Star said. Marco shrugged and returned the embrace. "I'm sorry you've never had a friend before, Marco."

"It's fine, Star." The two sat there, embracing each other. They weren't quite sure what it was they were doing, but it felt good. Marco wanted to stay that way forever.

Unfortunately, the arrival of the bus made them separate. Marco stood up, followed by Star, and they boarded the bus. The bus driver looked at Star with a curious look. "Is it okay if my friend rides the bus?"

"Sure. Go ahead, kid." The bus driver shrugged. Marco led Star to the back of the bus, where he usually sat alone, and they took their seats. The other students also looked curiously at Star and her fancy dress.

"What's with these people?" Star huffed. "It's like they've never seen a princess before."

Marco's eyes widened. "You're a princess?" He said.

"Oh, yeah. I guess I didn't tell you that about myself yet." Star replied. She opened up her small suitcase. Among the clothes and wand, there was also a crown in the luggage as well. "I'm kind of a magical princess."

"Okay, that is admittedly kinda cool." Marco said. "However, you might want to keep all of that hidden from everyone else."

"Why?" She asked.

"Well, the people at school are big jerks. If they know you're a magic princess, things will not go well." Marco said.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Star agreed.

The bus pulled up in front of the school and everyone got off, with Star and Marco being the last ones off.

"So you need to see the principal, right?" Marco asked. Star nodded. "I'll take you to him, okay?" Marco led Star to the main office of the school, where they saw the principal sitting at his desk.

"Ah, Star Butterfly. I've been expecting you." Principal Skeeves said. "And Marco, perfect."

"How did you know I was coming?" Star asked.

"Someone came out of a blue swirling vortex and told me everything." Principal Skeeves said. "I didn't think there were any other dimensions until then."

"Anyway, I've been told I need to hand these papers to you." Star said, getting right to the point, handing him a small stack of papers.

"Thank you."

"But uh, if I may ask… do you know where I'm staying?" Star asked. "I was just told to find you, and that's it." Marco's eyes went wide, as did Skeeves'.

"You know what? I'm going to have you stay with Marco. His aunt and uncle house exchange students sometimes." Skeeves said, writing something on some papers. "And… done. Miss Butterfly, welcome to Echo Creek High."

"T-thank you, sir." Star said.

"Please, just call me 'Skeeves'." He replied. "Marco, you and your new friend can take the day off today so you can show her around."

Walking out of the principal's office, the teens looked at each other shyly.

"So, I guess we have the day to ourselves." Marco spoke.

"Yeah, I guess so." Star said. Marco was about to speak again when he fell face down on the ground suddenly. "Marco?" Then Star felt something shove her hard, causing her to fall on the ground next to Marco.

"Ha ha! Losers!"

Looking up, the teens saw a teen with extremely short hair and very big muscles. Lars the school bully laughed at the two.

"Well well well. Looks like Di- _ass_ found his ugly twin!" Lars teased.

"Come on, Lars. Can't you just leave me alone please?" Marco said.

"Oh no no, freak. You aren't going anywhere." Lars picked up Marco by his shirt collar.

"H-hey. L-leave him alone." Star said, getting up. Lars just kicked her aside.

"You're pathetic, Diaz. You're nothing more than an antisocial freak, and your only friend is probably another antisocial freak. You two are lucky you have each other, because neither of you will ever make any friends!" Lars punched Marco in the stomach. Marco began crying. "Aww, is the widdle baby crying? Ha! That just proves how pathetic you are."

Marco's vision began blurring and he began hyperventilating as his anxiety kicked in. "P-please… stop…" Marco begged, his voice barely at a whisper. Lars shoved him to the ground, causing him to land on his hands and knees, and kicked him in the stomach before hitting the back of his head hard enough for his face to slam into the hard tile floor.

"This is why your real parents left you. You're nothing more than a waste of space. Face it, wimp! Nobody likes you!" Lars kept going at it, throwing insults at Marco, who was having a full on anxiety attack now.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Lars finally left, leaving Marco in his anxiety attack. He was on the floor, still crying, as his body shook and he hyperventilated. Star quickly headed over to Marco and tried to comfort him, though it was clear she didn't really know how to do it.

"It's… it's okay, Marco. He's gone now." Star said, embracing him as he continued to shake and sob into her shoulder. Various students passing by either ignored them, looked curiously at them, or even outright laughed at them. Nobody even tried to help.

Inside of Marco's mind, there was a voice that wouldn't leave him alone. _'You really are pathetic, Marco. You finally made a friend for the first time in your pathetic life, and she already knows how pathetic you are.'_

'Please. Leave me alone.' Marco tried asking the voices to leave him alone, to no avail.

 _'Ever since your aunt and uncle adopted you, you've been nothing but a burden to everyone around you.'_

'Stop… please…'

Meanwhile, Star was just sitting there awkwardly, not sure what to do. She had no idea what to do and felt absolutely horrible that she couldn't do anything to help.

After several agonizing seconds, Marco's shaking finally managed to subside as his breathing returned to somewhat normal. "I… I'm sorry about that. You probably think I'm pretty pathetic, don't you?" Marco said more than asked. "Just letting him attack me and not doing anything. I'm… I'm sorry you had to put up with me."

"No, I'm sorry I didn't do anything to stop him. A-and… not to mention I almost killed you earlier. I'm a horrible friend." Star told him. "Let's just get out of here." Shakily, Marco got up and wiped his tears away with his forearm, sniffling. Star also stood up, and they headed out of the school and began walking down the sidewalk together.

"Is school always that bad for you?" Star asked.

Marco sighed. "Unfortunately… yes."

Star's eyes filled with emotion. "I've been through a lot, too." She said, then hesitated a bit. "Hey, um… is it alright if I ask you about… what happened with you when that bully was harassing you?"

Marco tensed slightly as the voice in his head began acting up. _'Why bother telling her? She's just like everyone else. She'll just make fun of you and ditch you.'_

'No… she's not like the others. She's different, I can tell.' Marco thought.

 _'Don't you realize it's all just an act? She's getting you to expose yourself so she can attack you where it hurts the most.'_

'She's not like that. Star is nothing like everyone else.' Marco decided to do his best to ignore the voice in his head and answer Star's question.

"Well, I have something called 'anxiety'. Sometimes, if I'm under stress of any kind, I'll have an anxiety attack similar to what you saw." Marco explained. "I also have this voice in my head that tells me I'm pathetic, a waste of space, and other things like that. And… I can't control it. It's like… my mind… has a mind of its own. If that even makes sense."

"I think I know what you mean." Star said. The teens continued to walk in silence until Marco laughed slightly. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just… we've only just met each other and it's like we've known each other for a long time." Marco said. "I mean, we've already told each other some things about ourselves that we probably wouldn't even say to a longtime friend." Star smiled for the first time since she met Marco when he said this.

"I guess you're right." Star agreed. "Anyway, um… could we… go back to your house? I'd like to see the place where I'll be staying."

Marco tensed up again. "Trust me… you don't want to. My aunt and uncle, they… um… n-nevermind."

"It's fine. You don't have to tell me." Star told him.

"Yeah, okay. Sorry about that, Star." Marco sighed. "I'll just show you around town until it's time to go home."

"Okay." Star said.


	2. Abused

**Chapter 2: Abused**

Star and Marco walked through the door into his aunt and uncle's house. Immediately, Marco's uncle, Anthony, sat up from his position on the recliner. Marco's uncle was a tall, burly man with medium length hair and a thin mustache.

"Why are you late?" He demanded.

"I-I'm sorry, sir. I-it's just, we have a new exchange student living here now, sir, and I was showing her around town." Marco's uncle required that he said 'sir' in every sentence that he said while speaking to him.

Anthony looked at Star for a moment. "Fine. You, missy, will be staying in Marco's room." He said.

"Um, w-what about the guest room? Do you have a guest room?" Star asked.

"It was turned into my room of valuable posessions." Anthony said. "Marco, you'll be sleeping on the floor to make room for our guest while she stays here."

"Yes, sir." Marco sighed. "Come on, Star. Let me show you to your— _our_ —room." Marco led her up the stairs and into the guest room. Inside was a single twin size mattress on the floor, along with a thin blanket and small pillow, and a small bookshelf with two books on it. The floor was a simple hard tile floor with no pattern. There was a fan on the ceiling and the walls were a plain, solid white, with a single window.

"Yeah, I know it's not very much, but—"

"I can't believe I finally have a room without bars on the window." Star whispered.

"What?" Marco said.

"I… don't really want to talk about it right now."

"R-right, sorry." Marco apologized.

"Marco! Get down here and get started right now!" Anthony yelled from downstairs.

"I have to go, now. I need to clean the house." Marco told her, leaving the room. Star was left alone in the room now, taking in her new room that she was sharing with Marco. She set her suitcase down on the mattress and opened it up, taking out her wand and staring at it.

"The appearance of the wand reflects the user…" Star muttered, staring at it. The wand was a black handle with a dark blue ball on the top and a purple heart on the end. There was a deep purple star-shaped crystal on the front of the ball with a dark green vine of thorns encircling the star, and some black hearts tangled in the thorns. There was a pair of tattered, dark gray wings on each side of the ball. "I'm nothing but a broken mess."

Star looked back towards the door that Marco left through. "Marco… seems to be in pain, like me." She said to herself. "Have I finally found someone who understands?"

Meanwhile, as Marco cleaned the kitchen and washed the dishes by hand, he began thinking of his new friend and roommate Star. Her gray broken hearts on her cheeks, her dull blue eyes, her almost permanent frown. She was in pain just like him.

When he had an anxiety attack when Lars bullied him, she did her best to comfort him, and he appreciated it so much. Nobody had ever even tried to help him when he'd had anxiety attacks before. And while her comfort didn't seem to do very much at the time, he still appreciated it immensely.

Marco then thought back to when they first met that morning. She was harshly shoved through a portal before it closed. It was as if she was worthless to whoever threw her through. He frowned deeply. How could someone do that to such a nice person like her? The thought was unthinkable.

Then, shortly after, he ended up meeting her face to face as she aimed her powerful magic wand right at his throat. But she didn't kill him. Instead, she just dropped her wand after she looked him in the eyes. She must have seen his fear.

Marco was roughly jolted out of his thoughts when the plate he was washing slipped out of his hands and dropped to the floor, shattering. Marco's blood turned ice cold and his entire body filled with dread.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Anthony shouted, storming into the kitchen. He looked at the broken plate on the floor and back at Marco, who was looking at him terrified. "You. My room. Now."

"I-I'm sorry, sir, i-it was an accident." Marco stammered nervously.

"NOW!"

Marco wordlessly walked up the stairs and into his uncle's bedroom as he feared for his life. A minute later, his uncle walked in.

"That plate was a one-of-a-kind. It was priceless. And. You. Broke it!" Anthony fumed. "You will be punished." Marco's uncle then proceeded to grab a whip from off the wall, then yanked Marco's shirt off. He then swung the whip at Marco's exposed back, causing him to cry out in pain. Marco's uncle proceeded to whip him more, leaving several gashes across his back.

In Marco's room, Star was scared for her new friend. She could hear the plate breaking and Anthony shouting, followed by Marco's screams of pain a couple minutes later in the next room over.

Five minutes later, Star watched Marco limp into the room and collapse on the floor, holding his shirt in his hand. She gasped when she saw the several gashes across his back.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Marco! Are you okay?!" Star exclaimed.

Marco groaned. "It's worse than it looks. Don't worry though, I'll be fine eventually. This happens fairly often." He muttered. Star noticed that, in addition to the dozen or so open gashes on Marco's back, there were countless scars from previous whippings. So many, in fact, that more than half of his back was scar tissue. Star's eyes filled with tears and she carefully ran her fingers across his back, making sure to avoid the open wounds.

"Oh, Marco…" Star murmured. A small tear ran down her cheek. Star took her wand out of her small suitcase. "I could try to use my magic to help, but… my magic is very unstable right now." She said. "If I cast the spell, even the slightest slip-up c-could be very bad, and could even… result in… death. Uh, n-never mind, I-I'll just see if I can find some bandages to—"

"Do it." Marco said.

"W-what? Marco, didn't you hear what I said? My magic is unstable to the point that a _healing_ spell could _kill_ you."

"I know. Just… I'm willing to take that chance." Marco said. "If it works, great. And if it does end up killing me, then… oh well."

"'Oh well'?" Star said, another tear rolling down her cheek. "Marco, this is your life we're talking about here. There are no known spells for reversing death from unstable or corrupted magic. If you die, there's no coming back."

Marco sighed. "Star… do you remember this morning when we first met and you almost killed me?" Star nodded. "When you saw me scared like that, I wasn't afraid of dying. I was afraid of _suffering_. And right now, I'm suffering." Marco was beginning to tear up now as well. "So please, use the spell. At least… at least if I die, I won't have to be afraid of suffering any longer. Either it heals me or it kills me, so it's a win-win situation, I guess." What really struck Star was that she could tell that he meant every single word.

"No, Marco. It is _not_ a 'win-win' situation; it's a win- _lose_ situation! You're the first person to show me any kindness in over five years! If you die… i-if you die, I w-wouldn't know what to do." Star said, sobbing fully now.

"Star, please." Marco begged. "Please, please use the spell on me." Star looked into his eyes. There was so much emotion in them. His eyes told of a boy who knew of the luxury life had to offer, but was cruelly ripped away and was instead put in one of the worst possible situations out there with no way to get out. Star really didn't want to lose her new friend, but she knew that look all too well.

"Are… are you sure this is what you want?" Star asked.

"Nothing would make me happier right now." Marco replied.

Star was silent for a minute. "W-well… okay. I'll do it." She said. Shakily, Star stood up and held her wand out, pointing it at Marco's exposed back. "Here goes everything." A pinkish-purple beam of light shot out of the wand, surrounding Marco's body. After a few seconds, the light dissipated, but the wounds on Marco's back remained unchanged. "M-Marco?"

Marco didn't respond for several seconds. Then, the wounds on his back began to close up, and the numerous scars faded away. Marco lifted his head up and looked at Star. "Thank you."

Star breathed a sigh of relief. "You're welcome, Marco." Marco sat up and put his shirt on. "Hey, um… if you don't mind me asking, why haven't you ran away yet?" Marco stiffened slightly. "There's clearly no benefit to staying here, so why haven't you run away?"

Marco sighed. "I did try running away. Twice, actually. But my aunt and uncle called the police and had them find me." He explained. "The first time I was caught, I was whipped, and the second time, I was given a broken arm. I stopped trying after that."

"Oh." Star shyly looked the other way.

"Hey. Star, it's fine. I don't mind answering any questions you might have." Marco said.

"Really?" Star said, looking back up at Marco. "Because, I'm sure I asked some pretty personal questions. I don't want to ask anything that might make you uncomfortable."

"Don't worry about it, okay? It's fine." Marco reassured her. "And if you do ask anything that makes me uncomfortable, I'll tell you, okay? Otherwise, I'm fine with answering it."

"Yeah… okay. Thanks, Marco." Star said.

"Hey, um… Star? Is it okay if I ask you something?" Marco asked.

"Sure."

"What… what did you mean when you said… that I was the first person to show you any kindness in five years?" Marco asked hesitantly.

"Um…" Star shyly averted her eyes. "I… I'll tell you later. It's… kind of a long story."

"Sorry. That was too personal to ask you, I'm sorry." Marco apologized.

"No, no, it's fine. I just… think it might be better if I tell you some other time." Star said. "It really is a long story, so I think it might be better if I told you later."

"Alright."

…

That night, Marco slept on the floor, tossing and turning uncomfortably on the hard tile floor, as his uncle had demanded he give up his mattress for their houseguest. He was using his backpack as a pillow, though he didn't have anything to use for a blanket except for the clothes he was wearing. He didn't have any pajamas so he always slept in his clothes.

Star, meanwhile, was asleep on the mattress next to him, wrapped up in the thin blanket. But she wasn't sleeping comfortably. She was tossing and turning too, though not because of discomfort.

"N-no, please… I-I can be good, I p-promise…" Star muttered in her sleep. Marco looked sympathetically at her, seeing her shaking in her sleep. Carefully, Marco placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and her shaking gradually began to subside, but it never went away completely.

 _'You can't help her. She's too far gone.'_

"No, please. Not now." Marco muttered, withdrawing his hand from her shoulder.

 _'Why even bother? All you ever do is make things worse. You can't help her.'_

'Stop. Please.' Marco tucked his knees up to his chest and put both hands on either side of his head.

 _'How can you possibly help her if you can't even help yourself?'_

 _'You can't help her. You can't help her. You can't help her.'_

 _'You can't even help yourself.'_

"Stop!" Marco froze. Did he just say that out loud…?

"Marco, are you okay?" Star asked, sitting up on the mattress. Marco felt a teardrop run down his cheek. He touched his cheek, wiping away the tear.

"I…" Marco paused, seeing tears in Star's eyes as well. "Are you okay? It sounded like you were having a nightmare."

"Yeah. I… I'm fine. I didn't have a nightmare." Star lied. "But what about you?"

"I, uh… I just… the… voices. The voices in my head wouldn't leave me alone." Marco said. "They just… won't stop torturing me. They won't leave me alone."

"Is there any way I can help?" Star asked.

"I don't want to be a burden." Marco said, averting his gaze.

"Marco, I want to help you. I want to help you because nobody's ever helped me, and I don't want you to go through that. It's a horrible feeling when you know that nobody cares about you enough to help." Star said. "So, please. Tell me how I can help you. I want to help."

Marco looked back up at Star. His eyes began to moisten, and then a tear fell. Then another, and another. Within seconds, he was sobbing fully as Star embraced him and let him cry into her shoulder.

"I hate it here, Star. I hate everything about my life. My aunt and uncle hate me. Everyone at school hates me. Even random strangers hate me." Marco sobbed. "A-and… the voices in my head makes everything even worse. They… w-when I tried to comfort you when it looked like you were having a nightmare, the voices kept telling me that I would only make things worse, and… and that I can't help you. I know you said you weren't having a nightmare, but… at the time, it looked like you were, and… I just wanted to help."

Star began crying as well now. Not just from hearing the pain Marco was going through, but that he tried to help her when he saw her having a nightmare. Star began to feel guilty about lying to Marco when he cared about her so much already. He was so honest with her, and she waved away his concerns about her by lying to him.

"Marco, I… have something to say, too. I… I lied to you. I'm not fine. I was having a nightmare. A… pretty bad one, too." Star admitted. "I'm sorry I lied to you. I just didn't want to make you worry about me."

"It's fine, Star." Marco said. "Thanks for telling me."

"You're welcome, Marco."

A comfortable silence lingered between the two teenagers for a moment before Marco spoke up.

"We should probably get to sleep now. It's your first day at school tomorrow." He said. "So, I guess I'll just… go back to sleep on my spot on the floor."

"Oh… okay." They reluctantly pulled away from their embrace and sat a short distance away from each other.

"Well… good night, Star." Marco said.

"Good night, Marco." Star said back.

It had been another hard day for the teens. Though of course, there were still many more hardships they would face, even in just a single day, let alone the entire foreseeable future.


	3. Scared

**Chapter 3: Scared**

When Marco woke up the next morning, he saw Star sitting up on the mattress, wide awake, and staring out the window. He couldn't see her expression, but it was clear she was deep in thought. Marco peeked over her shoulder, and saw her tear stained cheeks. She wasn't crying at the moment, but she clearly had not too long ago.

"Are you okay?" Marco asked gently. Star jumped up a few inches like she was startled, then turned around to face Marco. Her eyes were bloodshot, like she had barely gotten any sleep at all the entire night.

"I…" Star paused, remembering their conversation the night before, and their unspoken promise to be open and honest with each other. "I'm… not sure. I don't want to go to school. At all. Especially if it's anything like my last school." Star admitted.

"Well, I don't know what your last school was like, and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I don't think it's anything like it." Marco said. "But… I understand that you don't want to go. Neither do I. But we don't really have a choice."

Star sighed. "Well, I guess we should go, then." She said. Wordlessly, the two began to get ready for the day to come. Star and Marco were quite hesitant due to the incident from the previous day, and that was when they had only been there for fifteen minutes. Now, they had nearly eight hours in total, including their time on the bus.

They just hoped they could be there for each other throughout the day, helping each other through whatever would come at them.

After a small breakfast of a single granola bar, the two stood outside, waiting for the bus to arrive. Star stood in a simple dark blue dress with a scorpion on the dress just under the collar, along with some black boots and a blue headband, and Marco was in his simple t-shirt and jeans as usual. He wished his aunt and uncle had given him some clothes with a little variety to them… and hadn't made him pay full price for said clothes. He didn't even get to pick them out.

Once the bus arrived, Star and Marco boarded the bus and began making their way to the back seat. On their way however, someone stuck out their leg, causing Star to trip over it and fall down face first as everyone except for Star and Marco laughed. Star got up with a hand holding her nose and tears in her eyes and rushed to the back seat as Marco followed.

"Star, are you okay?" Marco asked. Star looked at him.

"Do you have any tissues?" Star asked him. At first, Marco thought she was asking for one for her teary eyes, until he noticed a bit of red under Star's fingers that were holding her nose closed. Marco's fears were confirmed when a small drop of blood slipped out of her nose and rolled down her finger.

"Here. That nose doesn't look too good." Marco said, handing her a tissue. Star sighed, taking the tissue from Marco, removing her hand from her bloody nose and holding the tissue to her nose, and began quietly crying.

Marco put his arm comfortingly around Star's shoulder as she sobbed, the tears running down her face for seemingly the tenth time in just 24 hours. The blood gradually soaked into the tissue, and Marco handed her another one for when the blood had completely soaked the tissue. Star accepted it gratefully, and looked at him.

"Thank you, Marco." Star said, leaning into his shoulder. Marco began to feel something as she did this. He didn't know what it was, and he had never felt it before. His cheeks were warm and he began to feel happier than he had felt in a long, long time.

As the bus stopped and they got up from their seats, the feeling left just as quickly as it came, leaving an empty feeling inside. Star seemed to notice this, looking at him in slight concern.

"Hey, are you okay?" Star asked.

"I… I felt something weird just now… I don't really know how to describe it." Marco said. "It happened when you leaned into my shoulder, and left when you stopped. I know it sounds weird, but…"

"I… think I know what you mean." Star said. "I felt something weird too."

"Maybe we could ask someone about it." Marco said. "But… I don't really know anyone that I trust other than you."

"I don't either."

"I guess we're on our own, then. Not that that's anything new." Marco said.

They walked into the school and to the front desk and got Star's schedule. Marco noticed that she had all of the same classes that he did.

"Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz, perfect timing. I'd like to talk to you for a bit." Skeeves said, poking his head around the corner. Curiously, they followed him into his office. "Do you two remember yesterday when you gave me those papers?"

"Yeah. Why?" Marco said.

"Well, I looked at them, and… I saw some very disturbing things written on them." He continued. "But, before I continue, I need to ask. Star, are you okay if I share this information with Marco?"

Star nodded. "Yeah. I trust him." She said.

"Do you know what's written on these papers?"

"Yes. I trust Marco." Star said. "Please continue."

"Okay. Marco… Star's last school… did not treat her well." Skeeves began gently. "According to the reports… she was disciplined in some rather disturbing ways."

"She was abused." Marco breathed.

"I put you two in the same classes so you could help her."

"I do very badly in everything." Star added. "I failed almost everything, and whenever I would mess up, they… they…" Star didn't finish, instead she embraced Marco tightly and began crying into his shirt. Marco rubbed his hand on her back in an attempt to comfort her.

"This is why I put you two in the same classes." Skeeves continued. "She needs someone to help her. And you need someone to help you. I figured you two would be able to help each other out."

"Okay… thanks." Marco said.

…

As Star and Marco began heading to their class, various students were opening and closing their lockers, gathering their stuff for each class. Marco noticed that Star would flinch every time a locker slammed shut with a loud metallic clang.

"Is the noise bothering you?" Marco asked.

"That noise… that metallic banging noise… it sounds almost exactly like the footsteps of the guards at my last school." Star said, shivering.

"Oh… sorry for asking." Marco sighed. The teens arrived at their first class of the day and sat down in desks next to each other.

"It's okay, Marco." Star replied. "So, um… what's the school like here?"

"Well, there aren't any guards, just teachers. And there are a few classes we have to go to every day." Marco began. "We have to do assignments the teachers hand out, and we're graded based on how well we do. The best grade you can get is an A, and the worst one is an F."

"What happens if you get an F?" Star asked. "Do the teachers hit you?"

Marco tensed slightly, though it wasn't noticeable. "No, they—"

"Do they put you in solitary confinement with nothing but water for 72 hours?" Marco visibly tensed up. "Do they chain you up, lock you in a dungeon, and rape you for hours on end until you bleed?"

"No, they don't do anything!" Marco said, rather freaked out at this point. The nearby teacher had overheard their conversation and had a look of shocked horror on their face. "No; if you get an F, nothing happens. If you get multiple F's, they'll try to help you as long as they know you're trying. As long as you try, you'll be just fine. Even if you don't try at all, nothing like that will ever happen, no matter what. And if anyone does try to do _that_ to you… they'll have to get through me, first." Star was taken aback slightly by the sudden protectiveness in the boy's voice. "I can't lose _another_ person. I've lost too many people already…"

Star could sense the agony in his voice and could even feel his tears before they came out, rolling down his cheeks like raindrops on a window. She put her arm comfortingly on his back. But instead of his mood improving, it actually gradually began to get worse as his breathing quickened. It didn't take long for Star to realize he was having another anxiety attack.

 _'You couldn't save them.' 'You really are pathetic, aren't you?' 'You couldn't have saved them. Not even if you had the chance.' 'You're a selfish person for letting your anxiety show through. You just want the attention.' 'You couldn't save them. You couldn't save them.'_

 _'You couldn't even save_ her _when she needed you most.'_

Star embraced Marco from behind him, resting her head on his shoulder while he continued shaking.

"It's okay, Marco. I'm here." Star said softly. Marco was still crying, however. His mind briefly recalled hearing screaming and seeing blood on the ground, and he let out a soft gasp.

It took a little while longer, but eventually, Marco's breathing evened out and his shaking subsided. His vision returned to normal, and he looked back at Star, still embracing him and looking at him sympathetically.

Once his breathing evened out, Marco noticed that the warm and fuzzy feeling from earlier was back as Star continued to embrace him. He wasn't really sure what it was, but he liked it.

When Star released the embrace, however, the fuzzy feeling left with it.

As the bell rang for class, the other students began filing into the classroom and sitting at their seats.

"Okay, class, today we have a new student joining us today." The teacher began. "Care to introduce yourself, miss?" He said, as all eyes in the room looked directly at Star, making her feel uneasy.

"Um… I…"

"She's shy." Marco said.

"Oh. I see." The teacher replied. A short beat of silence occurred before the teacher cleared his throat. "Anyway, with that out of the way, let's begin. Please take out your textbooks and open them to chapter four."

…

Most of the classes passed by in a similar manner. Nothing unusual happened, aside from Marco having another minor anxiety attack seemingly out of nowhere.

As the school day ended and the teens began heading back home, however, they ended up running into Brittney, the head cheerleader and the biggest jerk at school.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Brittney mocked. "The scaredy freak made a new friend. And a really ugly one, too."

Marco noticed Star tearing up beside him. "Hey, she's not ugly." He said. "She's very pretty."

"Aww, are you in love with her? How cute." Brittney flicked him on the nose. "You two _are_ the perfect match, after all, since you won't ever get any other friends." Star stuck her tongue out at the rude cheerleader. Brittney saw this, and she quickly swung her fist up and hit Star on the jaw in a way so that she was forced to bite down on her tongue. Star let out a small yelp of pain and put her hand up to her mouth as Brittney grabbed her by the collar.

"Listen up and listen good, bitch." She snarled. "I rule the school. That punk Lars? He's nothing compared to me. I've got all the cheerleaders as my lackeys. I have the entire football team wrapped around my finger. You? You're _nothing_." She punched Star in the nose.

"H-hey. L-leave her alone." Marco said. Brittney threw Star down on the ground, and Marco stood protectively in front of her, despite being noticeably scared of what could happen to him as a result. Brittney laughed.

"Ha! You think you're some kind of hero? Protecting your little girlfriend when you know what could happen to you?" She mocked. "You're nothing. She's nothing." Brittney shoved him so that he hit his head on the wall. "If you dare get in my way again, I can pay the football team to put you both in full body casts." Brittney picked up Marco by the collar and hit the back of his head against the lockers very hard, then kicked Star in the stomach and walked off.

Marco slid down the locker and to the floor in pain, holding a hand to the back of his head. He felt something on the back of his head and removed his hand to see a little bit of blood on his fingers. "Not again." He sighed.

"Thanks for standing up for me, Marco." Star said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, this happens fairly often. I think I probably have a concussion again." He replied. "Those concussions would explain why I'm so pathetic. Only one friend out of my entire life… all these anxiety attacks… my depression… there's just so much wrong with me."

"Marco, you're not pathetic. Nobody else has ever stood up for me. I never stood up for you when you were getting bullied. I can't even stand up for myself. If there's anyone who's pathetic here, it's me."

Marco sighed as they got up and continued heading home. "I feel like I'm nothing but a burden in everyone's lives. I only make everyone miserable. The world would probably be better off without me." He said. "Everyone just keeps telling me that I'm no good and I'm a waste of space. And they're probably right." Tears began streaming down Marco's face. "And if I died, nobody would come to my funeral. I probably wouldn't even _have_ a funeral. I'm just a completely worthless piece of garbage."

The teens were passing over a bridge at this point, and Marco stopped walking and went towards the edge, looking down into the river below, looking like he was considering jumping.

"Marco… don't do this, please. You're not worthless." Star told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know what I'd do without you. You're the only reason I'm sane right now. You're not a waste of space. Not to me." Star looked him directly in the eye, her pale blue eyes showing so much emotion. "So, please. Don't jump. If you die… then I'll have no choice but to go with you. You're all I have, Marco."

Marco just opened his arms and the two embraced each other, pouring out their emotions and tears.

"I'm sorry, Star. I'm such a selfish person that I didn't even think about how it might affect you. I'm so sorry." Marco said.

"It's fine, Marco." Star said. "I really like you."

"I really like you, too." Marco said.


	4. Tom

**Chapter 4: Tom**

Star and Marco silently sat in their room, enjoying the quiet atmosphere. Marco's uncle was out on a business trip and his aunt was at the store, meaning they had the place to themselves.

"Hey, Marco?" Star said.

"Yeah, Star?"

Star sat on the mattress, not saying anything for a few seconds. "Please don't think of killing yourself again." She said finally.

Marco hesitated for a moment. "Okay. I'll… I'll try."

The teens fell back into silence for a short while. The silence was broken again shortly after, however, and not because of either of the two. It was actually Star's pocket mirror, the Mewnian equivalent of a cellphone, ringing from in her suitcase. She opened up her suitcase and grabbed her mirror, reading the caller ID. When she did, her face paled slightly as she read 'Queen Moon' before answering.

"Y-yes, mother?" She said.

"Star Butterfly, how are you?" Moon said.

"Oh, I'm terrible, as always; not that you care." Star replied. "But if you must know, I am actually doing less terrible than usual."

"Hm. Yes, well, the reason I'm calling is to inform you that Prince Thomas will be coming by shortly to court you… again." Moon said, disregarding Star's earlier statement.

"NO!" Star shrieked.

"Yes." Moon said sternly. "You are approaching that age where you must have a suitable king picked out before you will eventually ascend to the throne."

"No! Not Tom! Please! _Anybody_ but Tom!" Star begged.

"Yes, Tom. I am aware you two have dated in the past. And he is already on his way, so there will be no stopping it." Moon informed. "And remember, what's most important is that you act like the princess you should be. Goodbye." Moon hung up, leaving Star in stunned silence.

"Hey, Star?" Marco began. "Who's Tom?"

Star was silent for a moment before responding. "He's… my ex." She said. "He…"

A whooshing sound from outside caught their attention, and they looked out the window and saw a pillar of flames rising from the ground. After the flames disappeared, a demon stood there, looking around briefly before spotting Star in the window and smirking. He rose up using his fire magic and hovered in front of the window.

"Hey, Starship." Tom said.

Both Star and Marco backed away from the window, but Tom wasn't having any of that. He opened the window and stepped inside of the room, slowly walking towards Star as she backed away in fear.

"Hey now, don't be like that." Tom said. "Anyway, I'm here to take you to the Blood Moon Ball."

"No! I don't want to go! You can't make me!" Star shouted. "Stay back!"

Tom simply gave an unimpressed look, snapping his fingers. Suddenly, all three of them were wearing formal wear. Tom was wearing a simple white tuxedo, Marco was wearing a semi-fancy black suit with some decorations, and Star was wearing a fancy pink dress with matching gloves and boots.

"Oops, wrong spell." Tom shrugged. He snapped his fingers again, and Star's eyes glazed over. "Now, how about that ball?"

Marco's eyes widened when Star gave her answer. "Y…e…s…"

"That's more like it." Tom said.

"Hey, wait! What are you doing to Star?!" Marco exclaimed. Tom ignored him, and summoned a carriage that him and Star boarded onto. Marco tried to stop him, but Tom snapped his fingers again and Marco suddenly found himself being forced to the other side of the room, giving Tom enough time to leave. "Star!"

As the carriage disappeared into the ground, Marco found himself left alone in his room now, as Tom had taken Star with him to who knows where.

Suddenly, Star's pocket mirror began ringing again, lying on the floor where Star had dropped it. Marco picked it up and answered.

"Uh, hello?"

"Yo, what up, B-Fl… you're not Star." A floating unicorn head said on the other side of the mirror. "Alright turd, where's Star at?"

"A guy named Tom came and put some kind of spell on her and her eyes went all empty and he took her to a Blood Moon Ball thing and I'm really worried about her!" Marco said all in one breath.

"Okay, that's not good."

"What do we do, unicorn head?" Marco asked.

"First of all, it's Pony Head, not unicorn head. And second, we're gonna go save her." Pony Head hung up suddenly, much to Marco's confusion. Shortly after, a portal opened up suddenly in his room, startling him. Pony Head came out of the portal with a pair of scissors in her mouth. "Move it or lose it, turd." Marco stepped through the portal, and immediately noticed the slight spike in temperature.

"Where are we?" Marco wondered.

"Some kinda red moon ball or whatever." Pony Head answered apathetically. "They say the moonlight will select two lucky people, binding their souls together, yadda yadda. A whole bunch-a nonsense, if you ask me."

Marco thought about this for a moment. "We've gotta find Star!" He said. "If that's true, Tom might be planning to get bound to Star!"

Meanwhile, somewhere in the crowd, Tom and Star were in line for photos. The spell still had its effect on her, and Tom was acting as though nothing was happening. The couple in front of them were drenched in unicorn blood as the picture was taken. Coincidentally, Pony Head saw them right at that time and was disgusted by the open display of unicorn blood being dumped on couples.

"That's disturbing." Pony Head said. Marco also managed to spot them at that time.

"Star!" Marco said.

Upon hearing her name, Star turned her head and began slowly walking towards them, to their alarm, as Tom was right there. Tom looked at Star, and Marco grew nervous.

Thankfully, he misunderstood the reason Star was leaving the line for the photos. "Hey, c'mon Starship, don't you want a picture?" He said. Star, in her zombie-like state, seemed to ignore him. "I guess not."

"Attention, everyone. It is now that time of the ball." A voice said over the microphone. "In a few moments, the blood moon will shine its light down on two lucky people, and their souls will be bound together for eternity in its ruby light." A piece of music began to play, and Tom growled.

"Ugh; that's the wrong music!" He said. "I need to go change that. I just hope the spell doesn't wear off before I get back." Tom left Star alone for a moment, and Marco seized the opportunity. He quickly rushed forward and grabbed Star's hand, pulling her away from Tom.

"Star! Star, can you hear me?" Marco whispered, trying not to attract the attention of Tom. "Star, wake up!"

Star's eyes glowed softly for a second before they returned to normal, and she frantically darted her eyes around. "No! I won't be your puppet, Tom!" She said frantically, before her eyes settled on Marco. "Marco?"

"Star!"

"Marco! Oh, thank goodness." Star said, wrapping her arms around Marco. "Where are we?"

"We need to get out of here before Tom comes back." Marco said. Suddenly, a red spotlight shone down on the two, much to their surprise. A waltz began to play, and they found themselves dancing, unable to stop; not that they wanted to.

For a moment, Star and Marco just danced under the spotlight, content with everything at the moment, not saying anything. They stared into each other's eyes, enjoying the company of each other as they danced. Marco could feel his heart fluttering at how breathtaking Star looked in the light, feeling happier than he had ever been in his life. He would have been content to just dance with Star forever under the red spotlight.

Star could also feel her cheeks warming up as she stared into Marco's eyes, as the surroundings faded away until it was just the two of them, dancing together. Staring into Marco's eyes, Star felt like she was the happiest she had been out of most of her life.

They didn't even notice as the red spotlight closed after a short while, as they were still dancing, just enjoying the moment they had together. Marco loved that Star was enjoying the dance so much, as the large smile on her face showed she was clearly having a great time.

Suddenly, the broken gray hearts on her cheeks became tinted with a slight amount of pink, and they connected together so that instead of two broken halves of a heart on each cheek, it was now one single heart with a crack running about four fifths of the way down. He also noticed that her dull blue eyes were slightly more colorful now, appearing to be more of a sky blue instead of a pale blue.

The moment didn't last long, however, as their dance was interrupted. Tom harshly shoved Marco away from Star, and he slid across the floor, glaring at Marco menacingly as his eyes glowed red.

"You… you're DEAD!" Tom shouted. Fire erupted throughout the room, scaring several people. Tom rose up in the air using fire as he yelled, enraged, before blasting fire directly at Marco, who barely dodged it as he rolled out of the way. Star panicked as she tried to use her wand, only to realize she had left it at Marco's room.

"Star, we need to get out of here!" Marco shouted.

"I've got your back, B-Fly!" Pony Head shouted, floating over to the teens and opening a portal with her scissors. Without thinking, the three of them jumped through the portal and ended up in Echo Creek Park while Pony Head quickly closed the portal before Tom could chase them through.

Marco breathed a sigh of relief. "Man. That was a close one, huh?" He said.

Unamused, Pony Head turned to him and pointed her horn at him. "I would be poking holes in your face right now if you weren't so clearly important to my bestie." She said. "I saw how happy she was while you two danced and how her hearts went part of the way back to normal. But you had better explain yourself, Earth turd! If you were there when Tom took Star, why didn't you fight back?"

"Uh, I-I uh, b-but I…"

"It's not his fault." Star interrupted. "W-while Tom had me under his spell, I could still see and hear everything. Marco tried to fight back and stop Tom, but Tom used magic against him, and I'm pretty sure humans don't have any magic to fight back with."

Pony Head looked between Marco and Star a couple times. "Alright turd, you're off the hook for now, but only because Star cares about you and you look weak enough for Star's defense to be believable. But next time, you had better put up more of a fight, or call me to help in the fight. Got it?"

"Y-yeah, yeah, I got it." Marco said, slightly afraid of what she would do to him if he gave the wrong answer.

"Good." Pony Head said, satisfied with his answer. Suddenly, a ringing sound was heard from Pony Head, and she held out her pocket mirror with her tongue and answered. "Hello?"

"Darling, where are you at? You're supposed to be helping babysitting your sisters." King Pony Head said from the mirror.

"I'll be there in a sec." Pony Head replied, before hanging up. "Listen, sorry B-Fly, but I gotta get going." She said, using her dimensional scissors and returning back to her home.

A short moment of silence lasted between the two remaining friends for a moment. "So, uh… your hearts are… different." Marco said awkwardly.

Star pulled out a small mirror, looking at her reflection for a bit and smiling softly. "Marco… this is a very good thing."

"What does it mean?" Marco asked.

"I… I don't know. But it's definitely a good thing." Star replied.

The teens suddenly heard a ripping sound in front of them, and they stared in shock and horror as a portal opened up and none other than Tom stepped out of it, staring at Marco with rage.

"You're still on the death toll, kid!" Tom shouted. Marco ran away from him, fearing for his life, and running towards the nearby police station in the hopes that they might be able to help him. Tom chased after Marco with the intent to kill, and Star also chased after Marco out of fear for his safety. Right as Marco got to the street, Tom had caught up with him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifting him up as Star watched fearfully.

"No! Don't hurt him!" Star shouted, finally catching up herself and trying to get Marco away from Tom. However, he just pushed Star aside harshly, causing her to scrape her knee on the sidewalk.

"Star!" Marco shouted.

Tom looked down the street and saw a large semi truck driving towards them, and smirked. "Say goodbye, human!" Tom said, harshly throwing Marco out into the street in front of the semi truck.

"Marco!" Star shouted, running out into the street and tackling Marco out of the way as they both narrowly avoided being run over by the semi truck at 40 mph, resting on the sidewalk on the other side of the road.

"No!" Tom growled. "The boy was supposed to be killed!" Suddenly, Tom felt something latched onto his wrists, and looked back to see a police officer handcuffing him. "Hey! Release me, human!" Tom growled.

"I don't think so, purple boy." The officer said. "You are being charged with assault and attempted murder. You have the right to remain silent."

"You're gonna pay for this, human!" Tom said, charging some fire magic to his hands. The officer simply took out his taser and tased him, dispelling the magic and causing him to fall to the ground limp as the officer finished handcuffing him.

"Don't worry Marco, I've got you." Star said softly, embracing Marco as he was shaking and crying. "I've got you."

 _'Just look at how pathetic you are.'_ The voices in Marco's head were back again, refusing to leave him alone. _'Your friend just risked her life to save you. What if she got hurt because of you?'_

'No… please…'

 _'And just look at you now. Letting your anxiety attack show through just so you can get some sympathy from your friend.' 'You're selfish, Diaz. You're just wasting her time.'_

Meanwhile, outside of Marco's mind, Star's concern for the boy continued to grow as he had an anxiety attack right in her arms. She really didn't know what to do. This was the worst anxiety attack he's had, and it only seemed to be getting worse, despite her best attempts at comforting him. His tears gradually began soaking into her dress, and the shaking was starting to get more violent.

"Marco, can you hear me?! Please say something!" Star said, starting to feel her own eyes moisten with tears. "What do I do?"

"Hey, miss. You want to help your friend here, right?" Star turned and saw the officer who arrested Tom standing over them.

"How do I stop his anxiety attack?" Star asked fretfully.

"Well, there is one way I know of." The officer said. "Kiss him."

Star blushed. "W-what?"

"Kiss him." He repeated. "It's either that or watch him suffer and wait for it to stop."

Star was still blushing, but as she looked back at Marco, still crying and shaking, she knew what her decision was.

Throwing caution to the wind, Star brought Marco up and pulled him into a kiss.


	5. Unexpected

**Chapter 5: Unexpected**

Marco kept falling deeper into his anxiety attack. He was stuck hyperventilating as his vision faded entirely to black. He could faintly hear a distant voice that sounded worried, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. It didn't take long before he couldn't hear the voice at all anymore, and his anxiety attack got even worse with the realization that the worried voice probably belonged to Star.

Suddenly, Marco was jolted back to reality as a soft pair of lips made contact with his, and he quickly realized that those lips were Star's lips, and that she was actually kissing him. His anxiety attack had completely faded away, and now he was fully aware that his best friend was kissing him. His brain took a moment to register where he was and what had happened, and when he did, he almost slipped into another anxiety attack, but thankfully, the fact that Star was still kissing him prevented him from it.

After a moment, Star pulled away and looked into Marco's eyes with a shy but concerned expression and a noticeable blush on her face. Marco was too busy processing what had just happened to be embarrassed about it, but after a few seconds, his face lit up with the same red hue that had tinted Star's face. A short silence filled the air for a bit before Star spoke up.

"A-are you okay, Marco?" She asked.

"Yeah… I think so." Marco said. "But, if I may ask… why did you save me? What if you got hurt trying to save me?"

Star's answer was immediate. "Why _wouldn't_ I save you? You almost died, Marco! And even if I did get hurt, it's worth it to save your life. You're my best friend, Marco." Star said, bringing him into a tight embrace. Marco quickly returned the hug, letting out a shaky breath.

Star helped Marco up off the sidewalk and used her wand to turn their fancy clothes into the clothes they were previously wearing. After making sure that Marco was okay, or at least physically okay, Star took hold of Marco's hand and they began walking down the street and back to the house.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about what happened to you today, Marco." Star said.

"It's fine, Star." Marco said. "It's not your fault."

"But I can't help but think that maybe if I fought back against Tom, then maybe you wouldn't have been in so much danger." Star replied. The two walked by a clothing store, and something caught Marco's attention from the corner of his eye. In the window of the store, there was a simple red hoodie on display.

Star noticed, and a faint smile appeared on her lips. "Do you want that hoodie, Marco?" She asked.

Marco looked away from the window. "Well, uh… I've been saving up for it for a while, but it's kinda expensive and I don't have a lot of money." Marco said. Star took Marco inside, and Marco's eyes widened. "Um, Star, I-I said I don't have enough money for it."

"I know. That's why I'm buying it for you." Star replied.

"What?! But—"

"Marco, if you're worried about inconveniencing me, don't be. You've had a hard life, and you deserve something nice to happen to you." Star said, silencing Marco. "Besides, I'm a princess, remember? I have quite a bit of money, anyway."

"B-but Star…" Marco began.

"Marco." Star said gently but firmly. "I want you to be happy. You deserve it. You said you're saving up to buy the hoodie, right?"

"W-well, yeah, but—"

"And you want the hoodie, right?"

"Yes…" Marco said. "But I don't want you to go out of your way to get it for me."

"Well, what if I _want_ to get it for you?" Star said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Marco, I really want to get it for you. I want you to be happy. So I'm going to buy it for you."

"R-right… sorry. I should be thanking you." Marco said. "You're just trying to do something nice for me, but I just… I was trying to not be a burden, but instead, I just made you upset. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Marco. You were just trying to be a good friend. I appreciate that." Star told him. "Now, come on. I still need to get you that hoodie." The pair went inside, and after a moment, they found a red hoodie just like the one in the window, and Star grabbed it before they walked up to the register, setting the article of clothing on the counter.

"Just the hoodie, then? That'll be $40." The cashier said.

"Um, do you accept gold coins as currency? I don't have any Earth money." Star said, pulling a solid gold coin from her pocket and handing it to the cashier, who widened her eyes.

"Y-yeah, yeah, we accept gold as currency." The cashier said, taking the coin. "Have a nice day!"

"Thank you." Star told her as the teens left the store.

As they walked to Marco's house, Marco just held the hoodie in his hands, amazed that Star would buy it for him so willingly. Star smiled, amused by his awestruck expression.

"Aren't you gonna try it on, Marco?" Star asked.

Marco seemed to remember where he was suddenly, and his brain rushed to answer Star. "Oh, sorry, I just… I still can't believe you were so willing to buy this for me." He said. "Nobody's given me anything for free for a very long time."

"Not even presents on your birthday? Or Christmas?" Star asked.

"No. I haven't been given any presents, either." Marco said. "The last time I got any gifts was before my parents…" He stopped talking there, feeling himself choke up with tears.

"Hey… it's okay, I get it." Star said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

The duo continued to walk down the street toward Marco's house, just simply enjoying the other's company. The simple moments between the two has quickly become something they both cherished. These simple moments were times they could forget about the stress of life and their horrible pasts, and just be a couple of friends simply enjoying being with each other.

Unfortunately, these moments tended to end rather quickly, and they were usually pulled back to reality in a harsh way.

"Where have you been?" Marco's aunt, Helga, demanded. Helga was a middle aged woman who did not age well. She had a couple of wrinkles across her face, and had brown hair that was quickly turning into a light gray color, despite being only in her late 40's. She was slightly taller than the teens, and weighed almost twice as much. Her voice was a high pitched, slightly nasally voice, and filled with coldness and hatred.

Marco's face paled as he stared at his aunt standing in the front door to the house, a very irritated expression etched on her face that said he was in big trouble.

"Well? Where have you been?! Marco, were you raping this girl? You were raping her, weren't you?" Helga said.

"N-no, I… I wasn't raping her, ma'am." Marco said.

"Young lady, was this disappointment raping you?" Helga asked Star, pointing at Marco.

"No, he's been very nice to me. Nobody's ever been as nice to me as Marco has been." Star answered.

"Young man, where did you get that jacket from? Did you steal it?" Marco's aunt said, noticing Marco's new hoodie.

"No, I bought it for him!" Star told her.

"Marco, go to your room! I'll be there with the pan in a minute." She said, ignoring Star's response.

"Y-yes, m-ma'am." Marco stuttered, trudging up the stairs and into his room. Star was about to follow, but Helga stopped her.

"Young lady, what's your name?" Helga asked.

"Star." She said.

"What did Marco do to you, Farm?"

"Nothing; I swear. Marco's the nicest person I've ever met." Star said, not bothering to correct Helga on her name.

"Well let me tell you Mars, that boy is a good-for-nothing waste of space who only cares about himself. The world would be better off if he was dead."

"But Marco's my friend." Star said.

"You'll stay away from him if you know what's good for you. He'll take advantage of you, Lard." Helga said, walking inside. Star quickly headed up the stairs and into their shared room, and saw Marco looking rather upset.

"Star… do you think everyone else would be better off if I was dead?" Marco asked.

"No, of course not, Marco. Just ignore what she said; you're the best person I've ever met." Star reassured him. A small smile began to shape itself on Marco's face before his aunt entered the room with a dented frying pan and Marco's smile vanished instantly; replaced with pure fear and terror.

Helga stormed over to the mattress and yanked Marco up by the hair, then slammed him against the wall with his back facing her. Star could only watch in horror as his aunt whacked Marco in the back of the head with the frying pan. Every time the pan made contact with his head, a metallic clang was heard, and Marco shouted out in pain and agony.

"That should teach you not to take advantage of the first girl you see." Marco's aunt sneered after she finished hitting him.

"P-please… no more…" Marco begged.

Helga turned around for a moment, seemingly about to leave the room, and Marco allowed himself a quiet sigh of relief when she suddenly turned around again and slammed the frying pan into the back of Marco's head one last time. Marco let loose a pain filled scream, collapsing to the floor and bleeding from the back of his head and staining his brown hair into a deep red color. Helga had placed a small metal spike on the bottom of the pan, and it was stained with Marco's blood from just now.

Finally, Helga left the room, leaving Marco on the floor as he bled from the back of his head. Star immediately rushed over to the boy as soon as Helga left, and began examining the wound.

"Star…" Marco said shakily.

"Yes, Marco?" Star said.

"Please… f-forgive me." He sobbed.

"What for?" She asked.

"For this." Marco grabbed Star's wand with a weak, shaking hand, and held it to his chest, pointed at his heart. "Blackberry… d-death ray blast."

The wand started glowing ominously as Marco clutched the wand to his chest, his face contorted in anguish. Star quickly snatched the wand out of his weak grip and pointed it out the window above Marco just as a beam of deadly energy shot out of the wand and harmlessly into outer space.

Marco, however, was upset about his failed suicide. "Star, please… just let me die…" Marco said, shaking and crying as he laid there. "Just let me die… just let me die… please… just let me die…"

Star wrapped her arms around the quivering boy, hugging him tightly to her chest as a waterfall of tears streamed from his eyes, soaking her dress. She rubbed her hand on his back in an attempt to comfort him, feeling her heart throb almost painfully as the boy completely broke down.

"S-Star, please… you have to kill me. P-please, please kill me, Star." Marco begged. "You have to kill me. Please."

"Marco, I can't kill you. I'm not going to kill you, Marco."

"Please kill me… I just want to die." He sobbed. "Please…"

"No, Marco. I won't let you die." Star said, crying almost as much as Marco was now. The shaking boy stood up, slowly walking out of the room. "Where are you going?"

"T-to the bathroom." Marco said, leaving the room and entering the bathroom. Unbeknownst to him, Star had quietly followed him and was peering through the crack between the door and the frame.

Star watched as he searched through the drawers for something, already not liking what was going on. Her fears were confirmed when he pulled a pocket knife out of the drawer and opened the blade, slowly bringing it towards his neck.

Acting quickly, Star barged into the bathroom and rushed toward Marco, who spotted her and quickly tried to slit his own throat before she could get to him. Thankfully, Star managed to reach Marco before he could slit his throat, and she managed to pin him to the floor without hurting either of them. Marco struggled against her, still trying to use the knife on himself, but Star managed to prevent him from doing so, and he eventually gave up, and released the knife from his grip.

"Why won't you just let me die?" Marco cried as Star released him. The boy curled up into a fetal position, and shook as his body was wracked with sobs.

"Because, Marco, you're my best friend. I can't live without you, Marco." Star said, embracing him in a tight and comforting embrace. A short beat of silence filled the air for a moment. "Marco… why?" Star continued. "You promised me that you wouldn't think about killing yourself again. Why did you try so hard to kill yourself?"

"I just… I just can't take it anymore, Star." Marco said. "I… she's never had anything sharp on it when she'd hit me with it before. It was always only the pan by itself. I just feel like the universe itself hates me."

"Marco… you know I'm here for you, right? I really want to help you." Star said. "And uh, if it's not too much to ask… I was just wondering… um… n-nevermind; just forget I said anything. It's too personal of a question for me to ask."

"What were you going to ask?" Marco asked.

"I-it's nothing, really. It's really none of my business, anyway."

"Star, it's fine if you ask me a personal question. You've helped me out several times already, so I'm fine with answering any questions you might have." Marco reassured her.

Taking in a breath, Star decided to ask her question. "What was your life like before I came here?"

Marco tensed up a little, but tried to not let it show. "It's… kind of a long story. I'll tell you about it later, but long story short, my life was great, but then, within just two days, everything went to hell. It broke me, and I've never been the same since then."

"Oh… I'm so sorry, Marco. I-if there's anything I can do, please tell me." Star said. "Promise you'll tell me if you want or need anything?"

"I… I promise." Marco said.


	6. Despair

**Chapter 6: Despair**

 _'You're worthless, Marco. Nobody cares about you.' 'Star didn't stop you from committing suicide because she cares about you. She stopped you so you wouldn't make a mess of blood on the floor.' 'You should know by now that you're nothing more than an inconvenience to others. Just give up, kid. Nobody likes you.'_

Marco continued to stay in Star's embrace, trying to will away the voices in his head, to no avail. He wasn't having an anxiety attack at the moment, for some strange reason, but he was still far from okay.

It had been less than two minutes since he tried to slit his own throat, and Star and Marco were still in their embrace on the bathroom floor, with Star trying to comfort him and Marco trying to accept her comfort. However, the voices in his head weren't letting him.

And he hated it.

Instead, his mood continued to worsen as he grew more and more depressed as Star's attempts to comfort him didn't work. Here she was, doing her best to try and make the despondent boy feel better after he almost committed suicide, but instead, her efforts seemed to be in vain, which made him feel worse, and it continued on in an escalating downward spiral with no end in sight.

He had been sobbing quietly into Star's shoulder, and she continued to rub his back, feeling her heart ache over her clearly depressed friend.

"Star… I'm sorry." Marco said.

"What for?" She asked, slightly confused.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just… you're just trying to make me feel better, b-but the voices in my head… they won't leave me alone, and they're making me feel bad about myself, and now I feel even worse that I'm not letting you make me feel better and I-I just… I'm sorry."

Star felt a bizarre mixture of emotions at Marco's confession. She felt sympathy for the boy and the fact that even his own mind seemed to torment him. She felt slightly inadequate due to the fact that her attempts to comfort him apparently weren't working. And finally, she felt guilt over feeling inadequate, because she knew Marco would never make her feel bad on purpose, and if he ever thought he did make her feel bad, he'd apologize for it multiple times.

"Marco…" Star began. "You have nothing to be sorry about. It's not your fault."

"Oh. Sorry, it's just…"

Star released the embrace and gently placed her hands on his shoulders, looking into Marco's eyes with a gentle smile. "You apologize too much, Marco."

"S-sorry, I'm only trying t—" Marco began, though he stopped talking when Star put a finger to his lips for a few seconds. "I'm doing it again, aren't I? Sorry." Star gave him an amused smile.

"Marco, it's fine. You just apologize too much, that's all." Star reassured him.

"Sorry, I'll—"

Star cut him off again, though this time it was accidental as she began giggling, then laughing. Marco realized why she was laughing, and chuckled slightly, and before long, he found himself laughing with her. After a few seconds, they were both bursting with laughter, clutching their stomachs as joyful tears fell from their eyes.

After a while, their laughter subsided, and the two recovered their breaths, still smiling.

"Oh, man. That felt great!" Marco said, beaming.

"Yeah it did! I haven't laughed like that in a very long time." Star agreed. "I… I'm really glad I met you, Marco." She said shyly.

"I am too." Marco said. Simultaneously, the pair felt themselves begin inching closer to one another as their eyes began to close and their lips parted as they continued inching closer…

"WHAT'S ALL THE NOISE?!" The startled pair jolted away from each other as Anthony's harsh voice shattered the tender moment. The pair tensed up, expecting Marco's uncle to be standing in the entrance to the bathroom, glaring harshly at them. They hesitantly turned towards the doorway, but let out a sigh of relief when they saw that nobody was there. He had probably just yelled from a different room.

Once the fear wore off, Star sighed softly. "Well, that really killed the mood." She said. Marco frowned.

"Star, can I tell you something?" Marco asked.

"Of course, Marco. You can tell me anything." Star said.

"Sometimes, I just feel like… like the world's out to get me. That it wants nothing more than to see me suffer." Marco admitted. "You know what I mean?"

Star was about to answer when her eyes widened and her breath hitched. Her body froze as she recalled a painful memory.

 _…_

 _"N-no, please, no more. Please, I'm begging you!" Star screamed in agony as another 1,000 volts coursed through her body as her plea was ignored. Several seconds passed before the electricity finally stopped._

 _"Had enough yet, princess?" A voice sneered. In front of Star, a shadowy figure leered over her. "You need to learn to behave yourself, you know. You aren't at St. Olga's anymore."_

 _"I-I'll behave, I p-p-promise." Star said weakly._

 _"Good." The voice said. The cuffs around Star's wrists, ankles, and neck released their hold on her as she fell to the floor off of the metal she was held to. Her body was covered in burn marks from the electricity that had been flowing through her. "Oh, and just so you know… you'll be spending the rest of your time here, Princess Butterfly. So, until your release in 16 months, you might as well get comfortable… because General Wesson's Military School for Rebellious Princesses will make St. O's seem like the best days of your life." The voice cackled evilly as the figure left the cell the princess was being held in. Star sobbed bitterly._

 _"Why does the universe hate me so much?" She sobbed. "Does it really want nothing more than to have me suffer?"_

 _Less than a minute later, one of the robotic guards made its way by Star's cell. It stopped in front of the cell and looked in before going inside of the cell. Star's eyes widened._

 _"W-w-what are you doing?" Star asked fearfully._

 _"Giving you the rest of your punishment." The robot answered. Star's eyes widened._

 _The robot guard then walked up to Star and pulled her dress up. Star screamed as the robot guard violated her._

 _She cried herself to sleep that night._ _And the next night. And every night afterwards for nearly 500 nights. And ever since then, the princess, who was once a cheery, optimistic person who brought a smile to everyone's faces, wasn't there anymore. Star Butterfly was gone forever, and only a shell of her former self remained. She had been killed in the worst possible way: killing her spirit._

 _…_

"Star, are you okay?!" Marco asked worriedly. Star snapped out of her trance-like state and stared back into Marco's worried eyes.

"Yeah… I know exactly what you mean, Marco." Star said finally. "I know _exactly_ what you mean…"

"What happened? You were just sitting there staring at nothing." Marco said.

"I was just remembering a very bad memory, is all. Nothing to worry about." Marco noticed a tear slide down Star's cheek. "Now, what was it you were going to say?"

"I was going to say that… with you in my life now, I feel like… like things are finally beginning to look better." Marco said softly. "But seriously Star, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm… I'm fine." Star said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Marco was still concerned; that much was evident from his facial expression, but he decided to just let it go for now. The two left the bathroom hand in hand and went back into their shared bedroom.

"Marco! We need groceries!" Anthony yelled. Marco sighed.

"Would it help if I came with you?" Star asked.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Marco smiled.

…

"We need to get _how much_?!" Star exclaimed.

"Um…" Marco paused for a minute to look at the list his uncle gave him. "Three gallons of milk, two loaves of bread, some vinegar, some laundry detergent—"

"No, I mean, how many things are we supposed to get?!"

"About… 30 different items." Marco said.

"And he expects you to bring it all home on foot without anything to make carrying it easier? It's gonna be hard for _both_ of us to carry it all home; I don't know how he expected you to do it all by yourself." Star said. "How on Mewni did you do it before?"

"Well, I usually carry a handful several feet, set it down, go back, get another handful, and repeat the process thousands of times until I get home." Marco said. "It really kills my back, and sometimes I can't feel my arms. Plus, I've had groceries stolen from me before, and I learned the hard way that my uncle will not tolerate if I don't come home with everything on the list."

Star sighed. "Well, it's a good thing I'm helping you, then." She said. "I'm so sorry you have to go through all this."

"It's fine, Star." Marco said. The two of them continued walking down the sidewalk, unaware of the figure secretly watching them from the shadows.

A few minutes later, they passed by an alley as they approached the store, when a hand grabbed Marco by the wrist and pulled him into the alley. Marco tried to call out and get Star's attention in the hopes that she could save him, but a hand was clamped down on his mouth to keep him silent. The panicked boy struggled against his captor to try to escape, but the mysterious person put a gun to the side of his head, and he stopped struggling.

"You are not to move another muscle unless I say so; otherwise, I'll kill you." The figure threatened. By the sound of their voice, it was clear the figure was a man. Marco stayed silent and didn't move.

Meanwhile, Star had already noticed the sudden disappearance of her friend, and was quite concerned. "Marco?! Marco, where are you?!" She called out. She received no answer. Star quickly began to backtrack, looking around for any signs of where Marco could have gone. She passed by the alleyway and saw Marco being held at gun point, and her eyes widened. Marco's eyes widened as well when he saw her.

"So your girlfriend came to rescue you. How cute." The man said, before addressing Star. "If you want your precious boyfriend to live, you will follow me without question. If you try any funny business, he gets a new hole in his skull. Understand?"

Star silently nodded, slowly walking towards the man holding Marco captive. He walked into a building, shoving Marco inside, then grabbing Star and dragging her in as well before he closed and locked the door. Their captor put them both in a small metal cage that was originally built for a large dog, and as such, it was cramped and uncomfortable for them. The man left for a moment, leaving the two in their tiny prison.

"Star, I'm scared." Marco said.

"Me too, Marco."

Shortly after, the man came back and opened the cage.

"Alright, here's how this is going to work. You, boy, get out and follow me." The man ordered. Star and Marco clung to each other in fear. "If you don't do as I say, I'll kill the girl!" Marco slowly let go of Star and hesitantly got out, following the man, who closed the cage to keep Star in. "Now, girlie, if you try to escape, I'll kill the boy. Understood?"

Star nodded fearfully. The captor dragged Marco into another room, leaving Star in the cage. After a few minutes, she began to hear Marco screaming as she feared for his safety. As time went on, she could hear Marco's screams getting quieter and more rough as his throat was overused.

After an hour went by, the screaming stopped, and the captor returned to the room with Marco. Star immediately noticed how much worse off he was. His cheeks and eyes were red from crying, his walking was staggered and unsteady, and he was mortified from whatever the man had done to him. The captor opened the cage and threw Marco inside, before he closed the cage again and put a padlock on it.

"Marco, are you okay?! What did he do to you?!" Star exclaimed. Marco didn't respond in any way. He didn't speak. He didn't want to speak. He never wanted to say anything ever again. Clearly, whatever had happened, he was scarred for life and would probably never recover from it. Star hugged him comfortingly and protectively as she looked at the man. "What did you do to him?" She said.

"Oh, we just played a little game that most people call rape." Star was horrified. She hugged Marco as close to her as possible as tears pricked her eyes. She knew _exactly_ what Marco was feeling. She hugged him as if he would be raped again if she didn't protect him.

In reality, Star wanted to break down and start crying because of the mere mention of the horrendous act, but she forced herself to stay strong because she knew Marco needed her right now.

"Such a touching reunion. Moved me to tears." The man mocked. "Now, I can't have my victims just go free, and I'm not going to pay good money to feed you, so that leaves me with just one option." Their captor pulled out his knife and pointed it at the two as Star shielded Marco with her own body, waiting for the stab.

"I'm sorry, Marco…" Star whispered tearfully. She tensed up, expecting the blade to pierce through her body at any moment. But instead, what came next was something she never expected.

Star's eyes opened as she heard the sound of metal piercing flesh behind her followed by a gurgling sound. She turned around to see a sword pierced through the man's chest right where his heart was, before he fell forward, laying dead on the ground.

Star looked up to see who had just killed their captor, and saw a lizard man dressed in a fancy suit, holding the sword that killed the man.

"Despicable." The lizard man said, staring at the dead body.

"Who are you?" Star asked.

"I am known by many names, but for now, you may call me… Toffee." He said. Toffee then used his sword to break the lock and opened the door, allowing the teens to go free, before he opened a portal and walked through it, closing it after he went through.

"Marco, we can go now. The man who raped you is dead." Star said. Marco didn't respond. "Marco?" Still no response. Star crawled out of the cage and pulled Marco out, who was making no effort to move at all. He was still alive; that much was evident based on his still moving chest and occasional blinking, but it was like he was asleep as he just stayed limp, allowing gravity to do whatever it wanted with him.

Star sighed sadly as she picked him up in her arms and carried him out. She carried him home and up the stairs to their bedroom and gently placed him on the mattress. Star then grabbed her wand and went to the store, buying all of the items on the list that Marco's uncle gave them and used magic to carry them back, and put the groceries in the kitchen before heading back upstairs and into their room, laying next to Marco and embracing him in a comforting hug and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Marco didn't even seem to notice.

Tears fell from Star's eyes as she kept holding him, eventually falling asleep like that.


	7. The Day After

**Chapter 7: The Day After**

When Star woke up, she was still hugging Marco, who hadn't moved the entire night. She was slightly worried that Marco may not have fallen asleep at all, but when she looked over his side, she saw that he was asleep… and having a nightmare. His face was contorted in fear and agony and tears were steadily streaming down his face. Quiet sobbing could also be heard if she listened closely.

"Marco. Marco, wake up." Star said, gently shaking his shoulder. "Marco!" Marco jolted awake with a gasp, and after staring into the distance for a second, he began to sob bitterly into Star's dress as she held him comfortingly.

"It's going to be alright, Marco. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you ever again." Star told him. Marco was shaking violently as he suffered from an anxiety attack again, and the voices in his head this time were more harsh than ever.

 _'How could you let that man violate you so harshly? You're such a loser, Diaz.' 'Look at what you've done now. You made her cry because you couldn't even defend yourself from a rapist. Only assholes make girls cry.' 'Star should've just let you kill yourself. She wouldn't have been dragged into that mess if she had.' 'Just kill yourself already. You're worthless. Nobody likes you.' 'You're a terrible person for making her cry.'_

Marco's anxiety attack was getting worse and worse. It had never been this bad before. Never. He was so overwhelmed that he couldn't even feel his own face getting soaked with tears. To Marco, this was even worse than when his aunt or uncle would abuse him. It was worse than the bullies picking on him at school. It was even just as bad as… as…

Star quickly and suddenly brought her lips to his in a kiss in an attempt to bring him out of his anxiety attack, but it wasn't very effective. By the time Star released the kiss, he was still shaking, but thankfully, that was it. Marco looked up at Star for a brief moment before throwing his arms around her in a tight hug, and Star immediately returned the embrace. They stayed there for a while, just embracing each other as Marco tried to recover from his anxiety attack.

After several minutes, the two released their hold on each other and Star looked into his eyes. "Don't worry, Marco, I'll never let anyone hurt you ever again." She told him. Marco just looked back at her. "Are you okay?" Star asked. Marco shook his head no. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Not really…" Marco sighed.

"Okay, well… how about if you just stay home today?" Star suggested. "I can just tell the teachers you got sick or something."

"Okay."

Star used her wand to immediately change clothes before she began to head downstairs, but paused for a minute and looked back at Marco. "Just relax, okay? You need it." She said. Before Star left, Marco noticed that the hearts on her cheeks were back to being fully gray and broken. As he noticed this, his thoughts came back to berate him as he slowly began to get consumed by them…

Meanwhile, Star stood at the bus stop and sighed. "How could someone do something so horrible to such a nice person?" She sighed. "Marco never did anything to deserve that. He's innocent… unlike me. I deserved everything that happened to me."

Star's mind told her that if Marco was there and willing to talk, he would have told her she did nothing wrong either. Then she reminded herself he doesn't know about her past. It also occurred to her that she didn't know much about his past either, but she was confident that whatever his past was, he never did anything to deserve to be violated like he was.

Her mind continued to wander as she boarded the bus and sat in the back, trying not to let any tears fall as she recalled a recent memory.

…

 _Star Butterfly should have been excited. She should have been relieved. Today was finally the day she would be released from hell. Instead, she was as miserable as though she still had another year to serve. They taught her that she wasn't allowed to show any outward emotion at all. But she's always been bad at concealing her emotions. So instead, she tried forcing herself to not feel anything on the inside. She got close, but she was never able to get rid of emotions such as misery and depression._

 _Now, she stood outside the reform school she was originally sent to, wearing a forced smile. She had been transferred to General W's at eight months in, and transferred back to Saint O's on the last day to prevent suspicions from rising._

 _A carriage pulled up in front of the school and Queen Moon walked out, smiling at the sight of her daughter._

 _"Welcome back, Star. Did you enjoy your stay?" Moon said. Star's eye twitched before she nodded slowly. "Good. It's time to come home now." Star emotionlessly boarded the carriage, followed by Moon, then the carriage began heading towards the castle._

 _"Star, I believe it's time for you to have the wand again." Moon handed Star her wand as it changed form, but she was confused when it finished changing shape. It looked nothing like it did before. Moon looked at her daughter with a raised eyebrow. "Star, do you know why the wand looks so… different?"_

 _Star didn't answer._

 _Not noticing what was off with her daughter, Moon just shrugged._ _"Now Star, I have some more business I need to attend to in the Cloud kingdom, so I won't be able to help you get settled back in at the castle." She said._

 _Star just frowned as she stared out the window with her chin in her hand. Moon never heard Star's_ _quiet sobbing as she cried the rest of the way to the castle._

…

As the bus pulled up in front of the school, Star was pulled out of her thoughts as the brakes hissed. She got off the bus and began to head to her first class of the day. Normally, she would be talking with Marco, but he needed to stay home today to rest and recover from the incident that happened the day before. As soon as she walked in, however, Lars cornered her.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" He taunted. "Looks like ol' blondie here is all by herself today. Where's your friend, what's-his-face? Don't tell me he bed and fled."

"Marco… would never do that." Star said.

"Oh? Well, maybe he finally committed suicide. It's about time! Ha!" Lars laughed.

Star began to feel herself get angry. "Marco didn't commit suicide; he's at home recovering from being brutally raped by an evil man."

"He… what?" Lars paused. Then he started laughing hysterically. "Oh, that's _priceless_! I wish I could've seen the look on his face!" Lars exclaimed, nearly falling to the floor in laughter.

Star felt her hands shake and ball into fists as the bully kept laughing. Nobody laughs at Marco for suffering through that horrible moment. Magic began visibly sparking around her fists, and those few who were watching stepped back in fear. Lars, however, didn't notice, as he continued laughing.

"ENOUGH!" Star shouted. Suddenly, she punched Lars as hard as she could, sending him flying into the wall and leaving an impact crater. She walked up to the bully, who was now looking at her fearfully. Star was surprised for a moment that she had used magic without the wand, but she held back her surprise to address Lars. " _Nobody_ makes fun of my Marco." She threatened.

Lars looked at her. " _Your_ Marco…?" He coughed.

Star blushed, realizing what she'd said. "I-I mean… nobody… makes fun of… of my friend. Marco. Nobody makes fun of my friend Marco." She stuttered. "Stay away from me… and Marco… or else."

Lars nodded and Star continued on with her day like normal. Nobody bothered her for the rest of the day.

Word had spread quickly throughout the school, and by the end of the day, almost everyone had heard of the girl who punched Lars hard enough to dent the brick wall. However, they weren't all cheering for her or wanting to be her friend. Instead, she became feared throughout the school. But Star didn't care about her new reputation. She was just happy to finally be left alone.

…

When Star got off the bus at the end of the day, she was desperate to see Marco, as she hadn't seen him since that morning, and she has had a bad feeling that something was wrong for a few hours. She rushed through the door and up the stairs into their shared room, but once she got there, the room was empty.

She checked the bathroom and found nothing there, either. She began to panic, and quickly searched the rest of the house, but couldn't find him anywhere. She decided to check their room again, and sure enough, he wasn't there. After a bit of searching, she eventually found a small note on the bed. It was dotted with tear stains and written in Marco's handwriting, but slightly messier.

'Star, I'm sorry I've been such a terrible friend to you. I've decided it's better if I just left for a while. Don't come looking for me.'

Star felt her eyes tear up as she read the note. "This is all my fault. If I had just been able to protect him better, Marco would still be here." She sobbed. Star knew he was probably blaming himself for the incident, and that he probably thought that she wanted nothing to do with him, even though that couldn't be any further from the truth. If anything, she wanted to spend even more time with him. "I have to find him."

Star wiped her eyes and stood up, determined to find Marco and tell him that he's been a great friend and everything would be fine.

But as soon as she left the house, she realized she had no idea where to even look. Marco's aunt and uncle always restricted him from ever leaving the house, so they never really went anywhere.

Undeterred, she began looking for Marco anyway. She didn't know where to start looking, so she started looking around the house, with no luck. She looked throughout the neighborhood, asking people she came across if they had seen a boy her age wearing a red hoodie that looked depressed. Nobody had seen him though, and before long, it was starting to get dark.

Star decided to keep looking until she found Marco, however, no matter how long it would take. She had her wand with her, so she would be able to see around her and protect herself. And while she was persistent in looking for him, she was beginning to lose hope.

"Come on. Where are you, Marco?" Star said, then looked at her wand. "Why don't you have a finding people spell? It'd be really helpful if I could just say 'Oh wand-o, where is Marco?' and you lead me to him."

Apparently, the wand did have a tracker spell, for as soon as she said that, a thin red beam shot out of the wand in a seemingly random direction. Star was both relieved and frustrated. She just sighed and headed off in the direction the beam was leading her.

After a while, Star ended up at the edge of a forest, with the red beam guiding her into the woods, which had an ominous light coming from deep within. Worried, she headed into the forest in the direction the red beam was leading her, hoping it wasn't towards the light.

Unfortunately, it was leading her directly towards the light, and when she got there, Star gasped. The light was fire, and it was coming from Tom, who was trying to kill Marco as he ran around, desperately trying to avoid Tom's attacks.

"Marco!" Star yelled. Marco's pace faltered for a split second when he heard Star calling his name, and unfortunately, it was just enough for him to lose his footing, and he tripped and fell to the ground. Tom caught up with him immediately after, and was charging up a large fireball in his hands.

"Get ready to die, kid!" Tom shouted. Marco braced himself for the inevitable, but was shocked when what hit him wasn't a burning hot fireball, but the body of his best friend. Star was now laying in Marco's arms with a large burn mark on her chest, which had burned through her dress.

"No! S-Star!" Marco cried. Tom looked just as shocked as Marco was. "Wh-what are you doing here? I told you not to come after me."

Star looked up at him and smiled softly. "I was worried about you, Marco. And you're wrong, you are not a bad friend." She said as she laid in his arms. Star then weakly held up her wand and pointed it at Tom. "Turbo nuclear bomb blast." A devastating nuclear explosion shook the forest as Tom screeched from the pain. After the explosion died down, Tom lay still on the ground, not moving. Star looked back up at Marco.

"Star…" Marco said softly.

"Marco… let's just run away." Star said, making Marco's eyes widen. "You're not happy… I'm not happy… so let's just run away. It'll be just us, together, looking out for each other. That way, nobody can hurt us."

"B-but I…"

"Please?" Star said. "Nobody else cares about us… they won't care if we run away. They probably would be happier without us, anyway." Star said. Marco was still unsure, but when he looked into Star's eyes, he saw the only person he cared about, and he made his decision.

"Okay… yeah. We can run away." Marco agreed, making Star smile. "Let's do it." Marco stood up, still carrying Star, and began walking deeper into the woods. "Let's run away together."


	8. Running Away

**Chapter 8: Running Away**

After it was decided that the pair would run away together, they set out on their own. Or at least, they did until they decided to take what little belongings they had left at the house with them. So they snuck in, gathered their few belongings, and snuck back out.

Neither of them knew where they were going. But they didn't really care, either, as long as it was away from everyone else. Marco had also decided to take his uncle's first aid kit to help with Star's burn, since healing spells can't be cast on the person casting them, and Marco didn't trust himself to not mess up the healing spell, and they ended up keeping it for just in case.

They also had some food from the kitchen with them, but that was it. Just some food, a first aid kit, Star's wand, and some clothes. They figured that anything else they needed could be done with the wand anyway.

Now, the pair were just wandering aimlessly through the forest with no real destination in mind, holding each other's hands the whole time. As they passed by the spot where Star had found Tom attacking Marco, Star noticed that Tom wasn't there anymore, filling her with dread, but she did her best to shake it off, and they continued walking.

"How long do you think it'll take before anyone notices we're gone?" Star asked, looking at her best friend.

"Well, my aunt and uncle will probably find out within a few hours and be furious, but I could care less about that." Marco said. "Honestly, as long as I'm with you, and we're both safe and happy, I don't care about anything else."

Star smiled softly at him, gently squeezing his hand a little tighter. "You know Marco, I think I feel the exact same way."

Marco smiled back, returning the gesture. A soft rumbling was heard overhead, and the two looked up to see some storm clouds rolling in from the distance.

"We should probably set up some shelter." Marco said simply. Star nodded, taking out her wand and summoning a small tent for the two of them as it began lightly raining. They took shelter inside of the tent, closing the zipper behind them so rain wouldn't leak in.

As they sat down to rest, Star thought about everything they had gone through, both before and after they met, and began hugging Marco.

"Star?" He said. She didn't answer at first; just sitting there as she took in a shaky breath.

"We're finally free, Marco. We're finally free." She said. "I'm so happy."

"Me too, Star." Marco smiled. The two just sat there in their comforting embrace, crying tears of joy and relief. After so many years, so many dark memories, they were finally free from the pain of their homes. And they couldn't be happier.

They stayed there like that for a while, embracing each other as they listened to the gentle pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the side of the tent. Eventually, they released the embrace, and Star used her wand to summon a single sleeping bag. The two friends crawled inside, and fell asleep together, hugging each other as they fell asleep.

…

When Star woke up, it was late at night, and it wasn't raining anymore. She turned to Marco and smiled, squeezing him gently in her arms.

Marco wakes up and smiles back, returning the embrace.

"I'm so glad we're here together, Marco." Star said.

Marco smiled. "Me too, Star."

The two got up, packed up their stuff, with Star making the tent disappear, and continued walking, using the full moon overhead for light as they trekked on through the night.

"Hey, Marco?" Star spoke up.

"Yeah, Star?"

"I hope I never lose you, Marco." She said.

Marco smiled at her. "Don't worry Star, I'm not going anywhere without you." He told her. Star smiled back.

"Well, you're in for some disappointment, then." A familiar voice said. The duo froze up in fear as none other than Tom appeared in front of them. Before either of them could react, he hurled a fireball at Marco, and he fell back with a thud.

"Marco!" Star exclaimed, running over to her friend, who was coughing up blood. "Marco, are you okay?!"

Marco coughed again, and a few drops of blood came out, landing on Star's dress, but she didn't care about that. Marco looked up at her. "I've been worse…" He coughed. Star was about to speak when Tom thrust a sword directly into his heart.

"NO! Marco, no! No, no, no, no!" Star cried. "Healing—"

"Nope." Tom said, taking the wand out of Star's hands. Star cried as she watched the light in Marco's eyes fade away forever, falling limp on the ground. Tom grabbed Star by her arms, and she struggled to escape, but his grip was too strong.

"Let go of me, you-you murderer!" She said between sobs.

"I don't think so. You're mine, now. And your 'friend' can't save you, now that I killed him." Tom retorted. "You're my slave, now. _Forever._ "

"MARCO!"

Star shot up from the sleeping bag with a scream, and began hyperventilating as she tried to make sense of what happened.

"Star?"

Star looked over to her side, to see Marco, who was very much alive, looking into her eyes with deep concern.

"Marco!" Star exclaimed, throwing her arms around him as she cried into his shoulder. Marco immediately hugged her back as she shook in his arms, taking in some shuddering breaths.

"S-Star…?" Marco said. "What happened?"

"It was horrible, Marco! Tom came back, and he-he killed you, and kidnapped me and made me his slave, and-and…" Star sobbed, soaking Marco's hoodie with her tears.

Marco sighed softly. "Would it help if we got up and kept walking?" He asked. Star nodded. The pair packed up, with Star using her wand to make the tent and sleeping bag disappear, and they began walking under the clear night sky, with the full moon overhead to give them some light.

Star couldn't shake the feeling of dread that hung over her, tightly holding Marco's hand in her own as though she was afraid he'd disappear if she didn't. After a tense silence, Star spoke up.

"I-I can't lose you, Marco. You're too important to me." She said.

"Don't worry, Star. I'm not going anywhere without you." Marco said. Star froze up at this, feeling a sense of déjà vu as well as the strong need to act _now_ , and pulled out her wand, aiming it at Marco.

"Crystal dome bubble shield!" A clear, spherical shield surrounded Marco, and almost immediately after, Tom appeared in front of them suddenly and hurled a fireball at him. However, it hit the shield instead, and dissipated into nothing.

"What?!" Tom exclaimed, livid.

"Iron fist punch!" Star shouted, aiming her wand at Tom as a large iron fist shot out and hit him in the face. "Yellowjacket tornado swarm!" A swarm of yellowjacket wasps shot out of the wand, stinging Tom repeatedly as he tried in vain to swat them away.

Star kept firing spell after spell out of raw fear and panic, hoping to keep Marco and herself safe, especially Marco. As she kept firing spells at Tom, she realized this would've probably turned out just like her nightmare if she hadn't done anything, not noticing as the moon shone red above them.

After countless spells, Tom let out a livid growl as he opened a portal, giving up for now, disappearing back to who knows where. Star sighed with relief, dropping her arms down, and she dispelled the shield around Marco.

"Uh, Star? How… how did you know Tom was coming?" Marco asked.

"I-I don't know…" Star said, lost in her own thoughts. "I, uh… it was… in my n-nightmare… and…" Star trailed off, unable to finish voicing her thoughts. "W-we… we should keep going."

"R-right… okay." Marco agreed.

…

After a week of being on the run, the two teens ended up in a different city, and since they had ran out of food that same day, they decided to head into town for some breakfast. They walked into a small café, and sat down at a booth.

"May I take your order?" A waiter said, walking up to them.

"Um, could you give us a minute to look over the menus?" Marco asked.

"Sure thing." He said, walking away. As they looked over their menus, the TV in the small restaurant that was tuned to the news station caught their attention.

 _"… the boy, named Marco Diaz, has been missing for a week now. A picture has been given, shown here, of the young boy."_ A photo of Marco appeared on the TV screen, and both Star and Marco froze up. _"His guardians are offering a reward for his return. If the boy is seen by anyone, they are encouraged to contact the authorities."_

"Hey, aren't you that kid who went missing?" Someone said, pointing at Marco. The other customers turned towards the two friends, making them very nervous.

"Hey, yeah. The kid looks just like him."

"That's probably because it _is_ him."

The waiter from before walked up to them again. "Your parents are worried about you, boy."

"W-well, actually, they're not my parents… they're my aunt and uncle." Marco said.

"And they are definitely not worried about him!" Star countered. "They have been abusing him for years. They don't want Marco back because they're worried, they want him back so they can keep him as their slave! They don't care about him at all!"

"Nonsense, girlie. What kind of person would abuse an innocent child?" The waiter responded. "You need to go back to your family, young boy."

"No! We're not going back! You can't make us!" Star exclaimed.

The others looked at each other for a moment, nodding their heads. "Get 'em."

"Run!" Star shouted, grabbing Marco's hand as the two fled the café.

The pair ran away from the restaurant, heading into a nearby store, since they were still hungry. Once inside, they sighed with relief.

They spent the next fifteen minutes walking around the store, gathering some food. After a while, they went to a checkout lane, placing the food on the checkout for the cashier to scan. The cashier scanned the items and placed them in a bag as Star handed him a gold coin.

As soon as he saw the gold, he raised an eyebrow, looking up at the teens questioningly. "What is this?"

"It's… money…?" Star said.

"Is this real gold?" He asked.

"Yeah."

The cashier tested it, feeling its weight, and shrugged. Then he took another look at Marco and paused.

"Hey, wait a minute. You're that boy who went missing, aren't you?" The cashier said, pointing at Marco. Star tossed another gold coin to him as she grabbed Marco's hand and the bag and began running.

"Don't tell anyone, okay? Okay, thanks, bye!" She shouted back at him quickly as the teens ran out the store and down the street.

Once at a safe distance, the two stopped to catch their breath for a bit. "We… we're not safe here, are we?" Marco panted.

"I… I don't think so, unfortunately." Star said. "We have to get out of here."

They began walking quickly back towards the edge of town to get away from civilization, but as they were almost there, the police stopped them as they drove up in their cars. The doors of one of the cars opened, and the two froze in pure terror as Anthony and Helga stepped out of the back.

"MARCO UBALDO DIAZ! There you are!" Anthony shouted.

"Run!" Star yelled, grabbing his hand as the two ran away from them.

"GET BACK HERE!" They looked behind them and saw Anthony and Helga both running after them, and steadily catching up.

"Star, what do we do?!" Marco panicked. "They're getting closer!"

"Um, uh, um… super rocket blast!" Star shouted. The wand shot the two of them high up in the air and far away from their pursuers.

Once they landed, they were probably about a mile away, and Marco began breathing quickly.

"They-they found us! How did they find us?! How-how do we get away?! They're gonna _kill_ me if they catch me!" He panicked. It didn't take long before he fell into an anxiety attack, as his body shook and his breathing became rapid.

"Marco?!" Star exclaimed. She looked up to see that his aunt and uncle had caught up to them, and were only a few hundred feet away. "No, no, not now! Not now! Now is the worst possible time! Why can't everyone just leave us alone?!"

Star picked up Marco in her arms and used her wand to summon a barrier around them so nobody could get to them, and she began running as fast as she possibly could.

As she kept running, the barrier around them eventually disappeared, and she panicked as Helga and Anthony got closer and closer to them. Star began panicking even more as she realized she couldn't use her wand with Marco in both arms. A rush of adrenaline coursed through her body, and she could feel herself running faster and faster despite the burning in her lungs and her legs.

She kept running, faster than she'd ever ran before. She could feel her body begging her to stop running, but the fear of what would happen to them if they were caught kept her going.

She ran into the forest, and as she looked behind her, she saw that Helga and Anthony were falling behind, as she got farther and farther away from them. She began to feel relief that perhaps they could escape, but Star failed to pay attention to what was in front of her. As such, she ended up slamming hard into something and fell to the ground, with Marco landing on top of her, who had finally recovered from his anxiety attack.

The two looked up, and Star froze. In front of her, what she had ran into turned out to be her mother, Queen Moon.

"That's enough fooling around, Star. It's time to go back to Mewni."


	9. Leaving Earth

**Chapter 9: Leaving Earth**

Star stared up at her mother in shock and confusion. Marco was also quite puzzled, and they were both too stunned to really say or do anything.

"Come on, Star, it's time to stop this foolish little game of yours. Now get up, and leave your friend here so we can go to Mewni."

Star blinked. "How did you find us?"

Queen Moon picked up the two teens and separated them, brushing the dirt off of Star. She was about to answer when Marco's aunt and uncle caught up to them, harshly grabbing Marco by the collar of his hoodie and yanking him back, causing him to cough before Anthony then gripped his wrist extremely tightly and a cry of pain was forced out of him.

"We've got you now, you little bastard!" Anthony growled. "You'll be _lucky_ if you _ever_ see the light of day again!"

Star reacted immediately, firing a spell at them, forcing Anthony to release Marco, and she ran over to him and stood protectively in front of him. "You're not touching him ever again!"

"Star!" Moon exclaimed. "That is no way for a princess to act. Apologize immediately."

"No!" Star shot back. "Didn't you see how they treated Marco just now?! They've been abusing him for a very long time!"

Meanwhile, Anthony rose back up from the blow he had received, and he shoved Star out of the way and yanked Marco by the wrist again. He began storming away before he was encased in blue magic. Star used the opportunity to help Marco out of his uncle's grip.

"You are not allowed to touch my daughter." Queen Moon sneered at him.

Unfazed, Anthony just looked at her. "I don't know what the hell you're doing lady, but you better release me this instant! I need to teach that bastard a lesson he'll never forget." He said, pointing at Marco. "And your _daughter_ was in my way!"

"I'll deal with you later." Moon stated, waving her hand, causing him to float up in the air away from the rest of them, unable to move. Moon then turned back to Star, who was in the middle of a hug with Marco, and she walked up to them and separated the two.

"What the- mom!" Star complained.

"No 'buts' Star, it's time to come back home." The queen took out a pair of scissors, and she cut at the air, opening a swirling blue portal. "Now come on, and leave your friend behind."

"No! I-I can't leave Marco!" Star protested. "He needs me! And I need him!"

"You do not 'need' him, Star, and he definitely doesn't need you."

"Um, with all due respect, m-ma'am… is… is it possible that I can come too?" Marco said, unsure how to address a queen.

Moon stared at him. "No, it is not."

"Come on mom, please?" Star begged. "Is there _any_ possible way that he can come to Mewni with us?"

The queen stared at them, not saying anything for a moment, and Star was slightly afraid that she may have pushed a little too far this time.

"Well, I suppose there is _one_ way: if he works for us." She said finally. "He will work as a servant at the castle."

Star paused, not having expected her to say yes.

" _However_." The queen said, and Star's smile fell. "If he is unable to fulfill the standards given to him, he will be sent back immediately." She then turned and addressed Marco. "So if you wish to stay, boy, you had better follow every order given to you."

"Y-yes, ma'am." Marco said.

"Not gonna happen!" Helga spoke up. "I don't know who you think you are, but that boy is our property! And I will not let you take him without a fight!"

Moon just looked at her, unamused. Helga stormed up to them and tried to grab Marco, but thankfully, Star blocked her, standing between her and Marco.

This didn't stop her, however, and she reached around her, grabbing Marco around his neck and pushing Star aside carelessly as Marco struggled to get free. Star kicked her, trying to make her release her grip on Marco's throat, who was still struggling against her.

Suddenly, Marco bit down on her hand, and she finally released him as he fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath. Star rushed over to him to make sure he was alright as Helga looked at them with a death glare.

"You're not going to get away with this." Helga growled, pulling out a gun. Both Moon and Star were confused, not knowing what a gun was since they had never seen one before. Marco's eyes widened, however, as he knew exactly what it could do. Helga aimed at Star and pulled the trigger at the same time as Marco jumped in front of her.

The bullet buried itself into Marco's side, causing him to cry out in pain and fall to the ground as blood flowed out. Star's eyes widened in shocked horror as she fell to her knees, and Moon glared angrily at Helga as she realized just what the weapon almost did to Star.

"M-Marco…" Star sobbed, holding Marco in her arms as he continued to bleed. "You saved me…"

Marco looked up at her with his face contorted in pain. He tried to say something, but the sound never left his mouth. Instead, the only thing he could do was give a weak smile, which was quickly replaced with another pain-filled expression as his wound throbbed. The blood continued to soak Star's dress, and Marco began to feel his consciousness fade away due to the blood loss. It wasn't long before he fell limp in her arms, and Star began to cry harder.

…

When Marco woke up, the first thing he noticed was that the throbbing pain in his side wasn't as bad as he thought it would've been, and that he could feel bandages covering the injury. As he looked around, he realized he was in a hospital room on a bed, with a hospital blanket draped over him. Star was asleep in a chair next to him, her head resting face down on the edge of the bed, and his hand held loosely in hers.

He noticed that the dress that Star was wearing was stained with blood below the waist area, and he frowned, thinking about how upset Star must have been as he bled in her arms. He could faintly remember her holding him, sobbing uncontrollably before he lost consciousness.

Marco gently rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, and Star began to slowly wake up. At first, she was still very tired, but her drowsiness immediately disappeared as soon as she saw that Marco was awake.

"Marco!" Star immediately flung her arms around him, and he returned the embrace. They stayed in their embrace for a while, and Marco could occasionally feel Star's body shake as she sobbed into his shoulder. "I was so worried about you, Marco. I-I was afraid you wouldn't ever wake up." Marco could feel the pain from her voice. She sounded so vulnerable; the possibility that he might not wake up being absolutely terrifying to her.

As they released their embrace, Marco noticed that there were several dried tears on her cheeks, and her eyes were red and puffy. Her hair was messy and disheveled, and even the area around her eyes appeared slightly raw from crying too much. Star's expression, however, showed that she was very much relieved that he was at least somewhat okay.

Out of the corner of his eye, Marco noticed that out the oddly shaped window, two moons were rising above the horizon, and he realized he didn't really know exactly where he was.

"Where am I?"

Star frowned, the memory of what had happened not long ago returning in full force. "You're in the medical wing of the Butterfly castle, on Mewni. You… you were brought here after… y-you know." She said, her voice lowering to a whisper.

"How long was I out?"

"About five hours, I think…" Star said.

Marco gave a small nod of acknowledgement.

"Why'd you do it, Marco?" Star asked. "Why'd you jump in front of it and save me?"

"I couldn't let her hurt you, Star." He said. "I just… couldn't bear the thought of you getting hurt, especially if I could have stopped it."

Star sighed softly, looking to the side. He clearly cared about her just as much as she cared about him, and the thought made everything slightly less horrible.

A few seconds later, the door to the room opened, and Queen Moon stepped in, along with a doctor.

"Ah, you're awake." Moon said. "Star was very worried about you."

Marco sighed, looking to the side. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be sorry, boy. That was very brave of you to protect Star like that." Moon said, causing Marco to smile slightly. Star just rolled her eyes.

"What you did was very reckless, kid. But from what I've heard, if you hadn't done what you did, Princess Butterfly would likely be in a similar state, if not worse." The three turned to the doctor, who was leafing through a small stack of papers. "That being said, you were lucky. Very lucky."

"H-how so?" Star asked, already not liking the implications.

"Well, while we don't know much about these humans and their apparently barbaric ways, we do know that the metallic projectile that was in his body was dangerously close to some important organs." The doctor said. "If it had been even slightly further to the right, he would probably be dead right now."

Star gasped inaudibly, wrapping her arms around Marco as a tear slid down her cheek.

"Now, as for recovery, within about four to six weeks, it'll be like the injury was never even there. He lost a bit of blood, but it shouldn't be an issue." The doctor continued, adjusting his glasses. "He is to remain here all day tomorrow and stay confined to the bed, but after that, he is free to go. Just make sure to be careful with his side, and don't let him put too much weight on it for the first week."

"Thank you, doctor. You may leave now."

"As you wish, Queen Butterfly." The doctor bowed, then left the room, and Moon turned to the two teens. Star was in a slightly better mood upon hearing that Marco would be just fine, although she still had her arms around him.

"Alright Star, that's enough. You can let go of him now." Moon said. Star slowly released the embrace. "And can you _please_ change your clothes? You have a giant blood stain on your dress."

Wordlessly, she got up and left the room, looking back towards Marco a few times before she left, and headed to her room to change. The queen left as well, leaving Marco by himself in the hospital room.

Looking around, Marco saw that the hoodie Star gave him was draped over the back of one of the chairs, and he noticed it had a darker shade of red surrounding a hole in the fabric. His light gray shirt was next to it, and had a large blood stain with a hole in the fabric as well.

Marco looked under the blanket he was covered in, and saw that he was wearing a white shirt, which fit more loosely than the blood stained one. He began to wonder why he hadn't noticed that he was wearing a different shirt before now.

He lifted the hem of the shirt up slightly, just enough so that the bandages were visible. Marco frowned slightly, staring at the dark red spot in the center of the bandages. Slowly, he brought his other hand down towards the wound, and began carefully tracing around the bandages, making sure to avoid touching the wound.

After a few seconds, he moved to bring his hand away from the wound. In doing so, his fingers accidentally brushed directly over his wound, and a searing pain shot through his body. He hissed in pain as his arm jerked itself away on impulse.

Almost immediately after, Star came back into the room, now in a clean dress, swinging the door open swiftly.

"Marco?! Are you okay?!"

"Y-yeah, I just… accidentally touched my side, is all." He said.

"Oh…" Star was relieved that nothing had happened to make things worse for him, but she was also feeling guilt over the fact that he was in this condition in the first place. She walked over and sat on the edge of the hospital bed next to him, gently taking his hand in hers, and looked down at his bandaged side. "I'm sorry, Marco…"

"Sorry? What for? You didn't do anything." He said, looking into her eyes.

"But I _should've_ done something. Instead, I just sat there and let this happen to you."

Marco squeezed her hand reassuringly. "You couldn't have known this would happen. It's not your fault." He told her. "I don't think you knew what guns were capable of."

"I didn't even know what they were called. And I had no idea they could be so… deadly." She admitted. Star turned her head to the side, breaking eye contact, though she could still see his concerned expression from the corner of her eye.

"Hey, it's okay, Star. I'm fine. Everything's going to be fine." Marco reassured her.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right. Everything's going to be fine…" Star said, trying to convince herself. "Everything's going to be _just_ fine… I hope…" Her voice dropped to a whisper; low enough that Marco didn't hear the last part. The fact that Tom was still out there hung in her mind, refusing to leave as it seemingly taunted her. She was scared that she might not be able to protect him next time.

Several minutes passed by, and Marco slowly drifted off to sleep. Star watched his chest steadily rise and fall as he slept, and could feel her cheeks grow slightly warm. "Everything's going to be just fine." She muttered to herself. It wasn't long before she fell into an uneasy sleep, still holding his hand.


	10. Worries

**Chapter 10: Worries**

Somewhere on Mewni, in a castle, Toffee sat at a table, staring intently at an image of Star and Marco in the hospital room on a screen. The two were sound asleep together, holding each other's hands. Toffee clicked a button, causing the image to shift, and as Toffee looked at it, he frowned.

The lizard pressed and held a button on his desk, and a beep was heard before Toffee spoke into a speaker. "Buff Frog, I would like to see you in my office. There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

About a minute later, a tall, frog-like monster walked in, saluting. "You called for me?"

"Yes, I did. Have a seat." He said.

Buff Frog sat down in the chair on the other side of the desk Toffee sat at, who folded his arms on the table. The lizard pressed a button on the screen, changing the image back to Star and Marco in the hospital room, and turned it towards the amphibian.

"Tell me, Buff Frog. What do you see here?" He asked.

"Uh, I see princess and Earth boy sleep on bed together." Buff Frog responded.

"Precisely." Toffee smirked. "These two have a very strong bond, despite having known each other for only a month. They were also bound together under the blood moon. And if everything goes well, the princess will be able to fix our food shortage, as well as other problems when she becomes queen." He pressed a button, and the image shifted to a 21 year old Star handing out some food to the monsters.

"I have bad feeling that is big 'if'." Buff Frog said.

Toffee's smile fell. "It is. You see, right now, the Earth boy is recovering from an injury that was almost fatal. He got lucky though, and will make a full recovery." He said. "The princess is very reliant on her friend to stay sane at the moment. If the boy dies, none of that will happen."

Toffee pressed another button, and the image shifted to an alternate possibility where Marco did not survive the bullet injury. Star is holding his dead body in her arms at the hospital, sobbing uncontrollably. The image then shifts to her at his tombstone, refusing to leave. Days turn into weeks, as Star never leaves the cemetery Marco was buried at, even sleeping there as well. She eventually dies herself in the winter from starvation and hypothermia.

"That is… very sad." Buff Frog observed.

"That's only one possibility. Many more outcomes may happen if the boy dies, and none of them are good for anyone." Toffee continued. "There are also some possible futures where the princess dies instead of the Earth boy. Regardless of _how_ she perishes, the Mewmans would blame us monsters, and war would break out. In either case, Mewni goes downhill if either of them perish."

"What do we do?"

"Simple, really." Toffee said. "There's a demon who wants to kill the Earth boy and enslave the princess. We just have to stop that from happening."

"Uh, I am not sure if—"

"'Simple' doesn't always mean 'easy', if that's what you're trying to say." Toffee went back to looking at the screen, looking through various images. "That will be all. You are dismissed."

Buff Frog nodded, saluting, and left Toffee's office. The lizard rested his chin in his hand, deep in thought. "If either of them perish, Mewni is doomed."

…

Marco woke up with a yawn, stretching his arms and legs out, though he immediately regretted doing so when his stretching also stretched out his side, causing the wound to flare up in pain. He hissed quietly, lifting up the blanket to look at his wound.

"Oh… right." He sighed. As he looked over at Star, soundly sleeping next to him, he smiled softly. He felt that it was worth it to keep Star safe, even if she didn't seem to think so herself. He would do anything to keep her safe, after all.

Even if it meant putting himself in danger.

It didn't take much longer for Star to begin stirring as well, rubbing her eyes as she woke up. She smiled softly as she looked at her friend.

"Good morning, Marco. How do you feel?" She said.

"Well, I could be better…" Marco began, though he paused upon noticing the frown on Star's face. "B-but I'm fine, really. It doesn't even hurt that much." This was a lie, of course, but he didn't want to see Star upset, so he put on a fake reassuring smile.

This seemed to work as she sighed in relief, smiling softly again, and Marco's fake smile turned into a real one.

Shortly after, Queen Moon walked in the door, unbeknownst to the teens, until she cleared her throat.

"Star Butterfly, what are doing in here? The sun is barely up. Did you even go to bed last night?"

"Of-of course I did!" She stammered. "I just… woke up early so I could come see Marco."

Moon seemed to contemplate this for a minute, before she ultimately decided it didn't really matter. "Anyway, I came in here to talk to your friend… Marco, was it?"

"Yeah, it's Marco." The boy in question confirmed.

"Anyway, I've been thinking about your act of heroism when you saved my daughter, and I've decided on something." Moon continued. Star looked at her in confusion. "I've decided that once you're released from the medical wing, instead of working as a servant around the castle, you will be Star's personal knight. Your job is to protect her from all danger that comes her way."

Star's eyes widened, before she let out a soft, almost inaudible exasperated sigh. Marco noticed this, but decided not to comment on it. Instead, he turned in the bed slightly so he could address the queen. "Y-yes, ma'am."

"Good." Moon said. "Your training will begin in two weeks." With that, Queen Moon left the room, leaving the two teens alone in the room. Once she was gone, Star immediately let out another sigh.

"Why does she care about me all of a sudden?" She said, confusion and annoyance evident in her voice.

"Star? Are you okay?" Marco asked.

"No, I'm not okay!" She exclaimed. "I make one little mistake and she sends me to literal hell, then once I finally get back, she sends me off to another dimension all by myself as soon as I make another mistake. But now, she caught us while we were running away and acts like nothing happened and even cares about my safety now?!"

"Star?"

"Just make up your mind! Am I someone you don't want anywhere near me because I'm a mistake or do you actually care about me?!" Star shouted, tears streaming down her face. "I just… I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know what to do…"

Marco frowned upon seeing her break down like this. He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do to cheer up the upset princess, but he definitely knew that he hated seeing her so upset. So he just took her hand in his, ignoring the slight blush he felt on his cheeks, and looked her in the eyes.

"I… I'm sorry, Star. I wish I knew how to make it better, but… I've never been good at anything like this." He began. "Just know that if there's anything I can do to help, I'd gladly do it for you."

Star looked back at him, wiping her tears away. "Thanks, Marco." She smiled. The smile faded, however, as she thought back to how her mom was acting like nothing had happened.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Marco asked.

"Well… maybe it'll help if I just get this off my chest." Star said. "Would you be fine with me venting and possibly crying?"

"Go ahead." Marco encouraged, smiling warmly at her.

…

 _Star looked up at her mother. Behind her, the villages below were on fire as a giant flaming rainbow was spread over the kingdom. Star held her newly acquired wand in her hand, looking at her mother pleadingly._

 _"Mom, I'm sorry. Please, please don't send me to Saint Olga's School for Wayward Princesses!" She begged._

 _"I'm afraid you have no choice. You're going to Saint Olga's, and you've been enrolled in the special program to teach you how to be a proper princess and use magic correctly." Moon stated._

 _"No! Please!"_

 _"The carriage is already on its way. There will be no getting out of this one, Star." Moon said. "Actually, there it is now."_

 _Star turned to look where her mother was looking at, and dread settled in the pit of her stomach as she saw a gray carriage pulled by tamed Mewnicorns, the smaller variant of Warnicorns. The carriage was simple yet fancy, and had "Saint Olga's" written on the front and sides. The door opened up, and Star's mother escorted her to the carriage, taking the wand._

 _"Mom, please! I promise I'll be good! Please don't let them take me!" She pleaded, as Moon put her in the carriage and shut the door. Queen Moon gave the driver the signal, and he spurred the Mewnicorns to trot steadily away._

 _"Goodbye, Star. I'll see you in two years." Moon said, as Star's eyes widened._

 _"Two years?! NO!" She wailed. "No…"_

 _…_

 _After Star's two years were up, the carriage of the Butterfly family pulled up in front of Saint Olga's and took Star to the castle. Queen Butterfly had said she had some business to attend to in a different kingdom, so she had been left by herself._

 _For now, Star sat in her room, having locked herself away as soon as she arrived. She deliberately hadn't used her wand at all for any reason, as she had grown to resent the object that had sent her to that hellish "school" in the first place. She wanted nothing to do with it. Instead, the wand had been placed on her nightstand, and Star just sat on her bed for hours on end, staring out the window._

 _Star never left her room afterwards, and nobody ever saw her face to face. She had the castle staff bring her meals to her room and set them down in front of her door for her to get later when nobody was around. The castle was somehow even quieter than when she wasn't there for two years, like it had suddenly lost most of its staff._

 _This went on for nearly a month before Queen Moon returned. When she got back to the castle, she quickly noticed the castle was quieter than usual, though she thought nothing of it._

 _She headed straight towards her daughter's room, having expected to hear some joyful sounds of her horsing around like before. Instead, the closer she got to Star's room, the quieter it got, to the point that she could hear her own heartbeat as the blood pumped through her ears. It was unsettling._

 _Queen Moon just passed it off as a slow day at the castle and nothing more. When she got to Star's room, she tried the handle, only to find it locked._

 _"Star, are you in there?" Moon asked, knocking on the door. She heard a noise inside, but got no response. "Star, I know you're in there. Open the door."_

 _Inside the room, Star was actually asleep, and the noise Moon had heard was her rolling over in bed. Moon didn't know that, however, and thought she was ignoring her. "Star Butterfly, open the door this instant." Moon demanded. After still not getting any response, she used magic to unlock the door and stormed into her daughter's room, startling her awake._

 _"M-mom! Y-you're back." Star stuttered._

 _"Yes, I am. Care to explain why your door was locked and you were ignoring me when I told you to open it?"_

 _"I was asleep."_

 _"In the middle of the day? I find that highly unlikely." Moon stated. She glanced at the wand on Star's nightstand, and noticed a thin layer of dust on it. She ran a finger along the handle, collecting some dust and looking back to her daughter. "And it seems you haven't even touched your wand. You're supposed to be practicing magic with it." She continued._

 _"The last time I used it, you shipped me off to drain my personality because I wasn't 'princess enough'." Star told her. "Somehow, I still have some personality left. But I'll never be the same again."_

 _"Good." Moon said, and Star's eyes widened. "You are my daughter, and a princess, and setting fire to the kingdom is not acceptable at all. I sent you to that school to train you, but it seems they have failed."_

 _"I am not your daughter." Star said coldly. "You lost her as soon as she walked through the doors to that horrid place. Just… leave me alone, please."_

 _"Fine. But you are expected to practice your magic every day." Moon said, leaving Star's room. Star pulled her knees to her chest, sobbing bitterly into her dress._

…

Star sat in the chair next to Marco, sobbing. Marco held her hand, trying to comfort her.

"I… I'm sorry. You must think I'm pathetic, huh?" She said.

"Of course not." Marco said. "You're my best friend. I think you're amazing."

"Thanks, Marco." Star smiled. She shuddered suddenly, despite there being no apparent cause.

"You okay? Are you cold?" Marco asked.

"I'm fine, it's just… I have a really bad feeling about something." Star said. "I feel like… like… something _terrible_ is coming."

…

Tom sat deep in thought in the underworld, trying to come up with a plan. Suddenly, he shouted out in rage, startling one of his minions who was standing guard nearby.

"Wh-what seems to be the issue here, Master Tom?"

"I need a plan to get rid of the pesky Earth boy for good! But every time I try anything, something always goes wrong!" He shouted. "I've tried killing him already, and it always failed. The bond between them is too strong. She's always saved him before I could do anything."

"Um… i-if I may, Master Tom… do you think that maybe… you could try to… do something about that?" The minion suggested, afraid of Tom lashing out in anger at him.

Tom paused, rubbing his chin. "Hmm… not a bad idea." He said. The minion sighed in relief as Tom smirked evilly.

Tom walked over to a bookshelf and grabbed a book labeled "Spells and Curses", opening it to a specific page. "I'm going to destroy your friendship with the princess, Marco Diaz. Then, I'll finally have Star all to myself." He said. "And nothing is going to stop me."


	11. Friendship

**Chapter 11: Friendship**

The following day, Marco had been released from the medical wing as promised, and Star had asked for specific instructions to care for him if anything else went wrong. The doctor just gave her some pills infused with pain numbing magic and a roll of bandages and told her that if anything did happen, she could take care of it easily.

Star thanked him, and walked with Marco to the guest room he had been given, but not without her insisting that he lean on her to take some pressure off of his bandaged side.

"Thanks for helping me out, Star." Marco said. "But I'm fine, I promise. I can walk just fine."

"You're not fooling me, Diaz. I saw your face when you stood off the bed. It still hurts, doesn't it?" Star said, sounding more like she was stating a fact instead of asking a question. "I know the doctor said you were free to go, but I still think you should've spent more time staying in bed."

Marco knew she was right. When he had first stood up off the bed when the doctor said he was free to go, he had winced in pain as his body weight put pressure on the injury. He didn't want Star to worry, however, so he had tried his best to ignore it, but Star still noticed how his steps were seeming a little forced, and practically ordered him to lean on her for support to take the pressure off the injury.

Marco knew she was well meaning; she was just very concerned with keeping him safe and happy. He also wanted her to be happy though, and he knew her well enough to know that as long as he was still hurt, she would give up a chance to be happy to fret over him. It was sweet, but it also made him feel like he was a burden to her. So he had tried to fake being just fine, in the hopes that she would stop worrying over him.

However, she saw through his act almost instantly, resulting in some mixed feelings for the boy.

"Well… maybe." He admitted. The two approached the guest room that Marco had been given. Star opened the door for him, revealing a decent sized room with a fairly comfortable looking bed and a window with a view, as well as a few luxuries such as a full bookshelf and a small couch.

"Well… what do you think?" Marco stood for a moment, taking in the room he had been given. It wasn't very much, but it was definitely better than the room he had before he ran away.

"It has an actual bed." He whispered.

"Well, yeah. And I asked my mom to make sure you got an extra comfortable bed, since you were forced to sleep on a dusty old mattress before." Marco smiled gratefully. "Here, I'll help you over to the bed, and then I can go get something for you to eat." Star secured Marco's arm around her shoulders and helped him over to the bed, laying him down gently and even pulling the blanket up for him.

"Thanks for all your help, Star. I really appreciate it."

Star smiled. "Of course, Marco. Now hold on and I'll go get you some food." She said, promptly leaving the room and heading towards the kitchen.

While Star went and got some food for him, Marco relaxed in his new bed, admiring how soft it was. The mattress was the most comfortable surface he had ever laid on, and he could feel sleep creeping up on him as his eyelids grew heavy. It didn't take much longer before he began to doze off into a light sleep.

…

Star was hurriedly walking back to Marco's new room with a stressed out expression, holding a tray of corn and chicken for him. It took nearly half an hour for the chefs to cook the meal to Star's approval, since they had overcooked the chicken the first time. As she opened the door however, she found that Marco had fallen asleep on the bed, laying on his good side facing towards the wall.

Placing the food on the nightstand by the bed, she debated whether to wake him up so he could eat, or to just let him sleep. However, once she walked around the bed and saw Marco's face, her eyes widened in concern and fear. Tears were slowly rolling down his cheeks, and he appeared to be scared from whatever nightmare he was having.

"No…" Marco whispered in his sleep, shaking slightly. "Don't hurt Star…"

The girl in question felt her heart shatter in her chest as he said this, desperately wanting to comfort him. "It's okay Marco, I'm here. I'm right here." She said, grabbing hold of his hand and bringing it to her cheek.

"I can't lose you…"

"You're not going to lose me, Marco. I'm right here." She said. "Wake up please. Everything's just fine." Marco finally did wake up at this, jolting upright in the bed. Tears slid down his face and his body shook as he began to cry, drawing his knees to his chest and curling up as he sobbed.

"S-Star…"

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm right here." She cooed, gently rubbing his back. "Whatever happened in that nightmare, it can't hurt you."

Marco didn't seem to hear her, and when Star heard him hyperventilating, she already knew what was going on. She embraced him tightly but gently, taking special care to avoid his side as she wrapped her arms around him.

"It's okay, Marco. I'm right here. I promise, everything is going to be just fine. I won't let anything hurt you."

The two sat there on the bed for a while, with Star whispering comforting things into his ear as his shaking gradually died down.

"I really hate these nightmares…" Marco muttered once his anxiety attack subsided.

"How long have you been having nightmares?" Star asked.

"Ever since… since I was…" Marco's voice dropped down to a whisper. "Since I was… raped."

"I'm so sorry, Marco. I wish I could've stopped that from happening." Star said, shedding a few tears herself. "Nobody should have to go through that, no matter what. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you."

"It's okay, Star…"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She asked.

Marco glanced away guiltily. "I didn't want you to worry about me."

"What? Marco, why not? We're best friends, it's my job to worry about you." She said. "Why didn't you want me to worry about you?"

"Because it makes me feel like… like I'm just a burden to you." He admitted. "When you have to drop everything to worry about me."

"Marco…" Star sighed, tightening the embrace ever so slightly. "You could never be a burden to me. I care about you too much. If anything, _I'm_ the one who's been a burden to _you_."

"W-what?"

Star sighed sadly. "Well, yeah. If I had been smart enough to try to dodge that metal thing your aunt shot at me, you wouldn't have had to jump in front of me and take it yourself. I'm the reason you're hurt like this."

"Star, you're not a burden to me, either. I chose to take the bullet for you—it's called a bullet, by the way. But I did it to keep you safe. I would do _anything_ to keep you safe." He said. "You mean everything to me, Star. And I want you to be happy. That's why I didn't want you to worry about me, because if you're worrying over me, then you're not happy. So I tried to hide my nightmares from you so you could be happy."

"Oh, Marco…" Star sighed. "You're too nice for your own good."

Later, after the two had calmed down and Marco ate the meal prepared for him (which he thanked Star for profusely), the two were touring around the castle. Star had summoned a floating cloud for Marco to sit on so he wouldn't have to put pressure on his wounded side. For the most part, everything went as one might expect as Star showed Marco various places in the castle such as the kitchen, dining hall, throne room, and recreational area.

Currently, they were on the balcony, overlooking a majority of Mewni as the sunset tinted the sky with varying shades of red, orange, and purple.

"Wow…" Marco breathed in awe. "It's beautiful, Star."

"Yeah… it is pretty amazing." Star agreed. She reached out and took Marco's hand in hers, both of them blushing slightly at the contact. "I used to come up here every evening as a kid before my entire life went down the drain." Star's smile faded and she looked downwards with a somber expression.

Marco noticed her frown and his heart began to ache as he looked at his upset friend. He leaned over towards her and wrapped his arms around her in an effort to comfort her, and she quickly returned the embrace as the two of them stayed like that for several seconds.

Star sighed suddenly, pulling away from the hug. "When I was at… General Wesson's Military School for Rebellious Princesses… you know, after I was transferred there… they would often abuse me, even if I didn't do anything wrong." She began. "They… they would torture me until I was almost dead, and then they would use healing magic on me. And the thing about the healing magic was… the pain was still there, even though the injuries were gone. I was in agony for a very long time."

Star sat down on the cloud next to Marco, leaning her head on his shoulder. Marco blushed at the contact, but Star kept talking.

"Saint Olga's was also horrible, but they were right when they said my time at General Wesson's would be so much worse. I… I tried to kill myself. More times than I could count." Tears were streaming down Star's face and onto Marco's shoulder, wetting the sleeve of his tee-shirt. The boy wrapped his arm around her waist as he let her vent to him. "Kind of like… like how you felt like you couldn't handle it anymore when I stopped you from killing yourself a couple times… I also felt like I couldn't handle the pain anymore either. I… I tried everything."

Marco felt empathy for the distraught princess as she silently wept while she continued. "I tried to deny their healing magic and just have them let me die after they tortured me, but they would force it on me. I tried to cut myself on something sharp and bleed out, but they would just fix that with magic. I tried to starve myself, but magic also fixes that. I tried snapping my neck, but I never could do it hard enough. I tried to learn wand-less magic so I could kill myself that way, but I wasn't able to teach myself. I tried several times a day, every single day, for what felt like countless lifetimes. But somehow, something would always keep me alive against my will." Star wept bitterly as she admitted all this to Marco, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

A sharp pain shot up Marco's side as Star accidentally squeezed him where his injury was, and he inadvertently let out a sharp cry of pain. Star pulled back suddenly, panicking. "Oh my gosh! Marco, are you okay?! What's… wrong…?" Star paused as she noticed a blood stain on her arm, and her eyes widened. She looked at his side and saw the same blood stain mirrored on the bandages, and that's when the realization struck her like a brick to the face.

Without another word, Star ran off at full speed, sobbing profusely as she ran to her room and locked herself inside. The cloud Marco was on disappeared suddenly, and he fell to the floor. Pain shot up his side like a thorn, but his concern for Star outweighed the pain, so he pulled himself to his feet. Each step he took made his injury throb, causing him to wince, but he pressed onwards.

After a painfully long amount of time, he finally reached Star's door, knocking softly on it. "Star? It's fine, really. I know you didn't mean it." He said. Star didn't answer him though; only sobbing into her pillow as she realized he strained himself just to talk to her.

Marco was getting ready to turn back and head to his own room when Star opened the door. "I'm so sorry, Marco. Y-you… you must really hate me for putting you through all this, huh?" She sobbed, her eyes turning red from crying.

"No, of course not. I know you didn't mean to hurt me." Marco limped inside, causing Star to feel guilty.

"Here, l-let me help you." Star offered.

"No, it's fine." Marco said, trying to reassure her, but instead it only made Star feel even more guilty and upset. He turned down her offer to help him. Star felt a pang in her chest as she came to the conclusion that he was afraid she would somehow screw that up too. Not wanting him to be afraid, she came up with a split second decision.

"Hey, uh… I'm just gonna go take a shower real quick, okay?" Star said, running into her bathroom and locking the door. She discarded her clothing on the floor and stepped into her shower, turning the water on as the warm water pelted her body. She sat down on the floor of the shower, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs as she cried right there on the shower floor.

Star felt _awful_. She had revealed the most vulnerable part of her to Marco then hurt him as she tried to find comfort in him. Then she ran off, forcing him to follow her in his injured state, and now he was afraid to accept her help. There was no way everything would be fine. She was certain she had singlehandedly destroyed their friendship. And now here she was, crying her eyes out like the failure she believed herself to be while she hid in her bathroom like a coward.

Back in Star's bedroom, Marco sat on Star's bed, waiting for her to finish her shower. But as the water continued running, Marco realized she wasn't actually taking a shower to wash up, but to hide from him instead. He felt devastated, feeling that he had done something wrong and that he had caused her to become so upset. The boy slowly drifted off to sleep, feeling that Star hated him now for making her so upset, and the thought alone caused tears to fall as he finally succumbed to sleep.


	12. Misunderstandings

**Chapter 12: Misunderstandings**

When Star finally came out of her bathroom, dried off and dressed, she found that Marco had fallen asleep on her bed while waiting for her, which made her fill with guilt. She couldn't help but feel guilty that she had avoided him like that. She knew she should have just talked to him, but her irrational fear that he would suddenly not want to be around her got the better of her. Now that she had time to think, she realized she may have made yet another mistake by blowing him off like that. Star wanted to wake him up and talk to him, but when she saw his face, she saw he was in a rather peaceful sleep, and decided otherwise.

'Tomorrow…' She thought to herself. 'I'll talk to him tomorrow.'

So instead, she just used her wand to levitate Marco and move him to his own room. Star walked down the hallways towards Marco's new room and placed him in his bed, tucking the covers over his sleeping form. Once that was done, she went back to her own room, laying down on her bed and falling asleep.

However, what she didn't notice was that as she left Marco's room, a figure emerged on the other side of the bed. A malicious smile appeared on their face as Star closed the door, leaving them alone in the room with Marco, who was still asleep.

…

The following morning, Marco woke up with a slight headache, although he didn't think much of it, as it was a small headache and was easy to ignore. So Marco did just that; he ignored his headache and proceeded to get ready as usual.

He headed down to the dining hall that Star had showed him yesterday. Star had told him that breakfast was always served at 9:00, and it was 8:53 currently, although thankfully it didn't actually take the full seven minutes to get there… it only took five. So by the time he had finally arrived and took a seat, breakfast was mere seconds away. The dining hall was mostly what one would expect in a castle where royals lived, although everyone who worked at the castle ate there; not just the royal family. Instead of just one table, there were several tables, and surprisingly, the only order to it was that the king, queen, and princess would eat separately at their own table, while the rest of the seats were first come first serve. Star had explained everything to him in detail the day prior.

As he sat down in a chair that hadn't been claimed yet, he couldn't help but notice that Star wasn't at her seat. It wasn't that he didn't know where she usually sat; she had pointed out to him specifically where she sat—to the left of the queen. But Queen Moon was at her seat, and the seat to her left was empty. As he thought about the princess however, he felt his headache flare up slightly, but the ringing of a bell deterred his thoughts from her.

The chefs brought out several trays with delicious smelling foods such as bacon, toast, and pancakes. Everyone was given a plate of the food and they all began eating. However, Marco couldn't help but wonder where Star was. Was she still upset about yesterday? Or was she just sleeping in?

The rest of breakfast went by uneventfully, and Star never showed up. On top of that, every time Marco thought of her, he got a headache. He wasn't the smartest person in the universe, but he was definitely suspicious of this odd occurrence. So he made a decision that, in hindsight, may not have been a great idea: he went to look for Star and talk to her.

It turns out that he didn't have to look very hard, as he ended up bumping into her in the hallway—literally.

"I'm sorry, Marco. I wasn't looking where I was going." Star apologized.

Marco opened his mouth to answer with something along the lines of "it's okay" or "no, I'm sorry" when his headache returned full force. "I'm _fine_." Marco said, uncharacteristically hard. Where did that come from? Marco knew he was never like this when talking to anyone, especially not his best friend.

"Marco? Is something wrong?" Star asked, also confused by the boy's behavior.

"No." He said, marching past her.

Star felt hurt. Was his sudden cold attitude towards her because of the incident yesterday? Was it because she hid from him instead of trying to talk about it? Is that what this was about?

"Star, dear, where were you? We missed you at breakfast." Star turned around and saw her mother standing there looking at her curiously.

"I'm fine. I just slept in late is all." She said, feeling slightly put off by her mother's presence.

"Well, a proper princess doesn't sleep in. You need to always be up at 8:00 sharp and be ready for breakfast by nine." Moon lectured, as Star rolled her eyes.

"Ugh. Yes, I _know_ , mom." Star huffed. "I'll be on time tomorrow, I promise."

"Good." Moon smiled, ending the conversation and walking past Star. Left to her own thoughts once more, Star was left feeling hurt at Marco's actions, but she was also slightly suspicious. This wasn't like him at all.

…

Marco sat in his room, stressing to himself. He had no idea what was going on with him, and it scared him. At times like this, he would often go to Star for comfort, but he couldn't do that this time. For whatever reason, he was pushing her away. And he didn't want to. It seemed to happen every time he saw the blond royal… and that's when it hit him. It only happened when he _saw_ her, so as long as he didn't actually _see_ her…

A knock at his door pulled him out of his thoughts, and he turned to the closed door. "Who is it?" He called out.

"Marco? It's me… Star." The princess replied from the other side of the door. "Can we talk?"

Marco began to panic as the headache returned. For whatever reason, every time the headache was there, he acted cold towards Star, despite him wanting to be nothing but nice with her. So he did the only logical thing he could think of: he panicked.

"Uh, Marco's not here right now. It's just a-a servant, here to tidy up your friend's room, y-your highness." Marco said, altering his voice in an attempt to sound like a different person.

A sigh was heard from the other side of the door. "Marco, I know it's you." Star said. "Could you please let me in? I just wanna talk."

"Uh, that's not a good idea right now. I'm… not feeling very well. I'm sick." He said, coming up with a lie on the spot; although it technically had some truth to it, as his headache reminded him.

"Oh…" Star muttered. At first, Marco thought she had left, that is, until she spoke up again. "Then you _have_ to let me in! There are some dangerous diseases on Mewni that can kill you if left untreated!"

Marco sighed. He didn't want to worry her, so he couldn't explain what was really going on, so instead he tried dancing around the truth. "Well, uh… I… I know I've been kind of distant today… b-but you have to trust me when I say that it's best if I don't see you for a little while."

"Oh. You… don't want to see me? Are we not friends anymore?" Star asked, her voice verging on heartbreak.

"N-no, no! I-I still want to be friends, but, uh… it's… hard to explain." He sighed. "Just… please don't come in."

Star stood on the other side of the door, crestfallen. But as she remembered Marco had said he was sick, concern overtook her, since Marco had failed to clarify he wasn't actually sick. Star's instinct kicked in and she found herself literally kicking down his door.

"What the– Star?!" Marco exclaimed, his face switching from shock to anger. Meanwhile, his headache flared up yet again. "Why did you do that?!"

"If you're really sick, I have to help! Diseases on Mewni can be very dangerous!" She said, running over to him and grabbing his arm before she began to feel his forehead.

"Hey, let go of me!" Marco exclaimed, pushing Star away from him.

"What's going on with you?! I just want to help! You've been acting strange recently and I'm worried about you." Star exclaimed. "And if you really are sick, I have to help you!"

"Well, guess what? I'm not sick! I just said that so you'd go away!" Marco shouted, surprising her. "What part of 'I don't want to see you' do you not understand?!"

A loud smack echoed throughout the room as a hand roughly connected to his cheek, sending him falling to the floor.

"Dammit, Marco! I don't know what's going on with you, but you're being a real jerk! Don't talk to me until whatever is going on with you is over with!" Star yelled, storming out of the room with tears in her eyes.

She stormed down the hallway towards her room, baffled and infuriated with Marco's strange behavior as she began talking to herself. "What's going on? Why is Marco being so—"

"Everything is proceeding as planned, sir."

"Huh?" Star paused, hearing someone talking secretively in a secluded room. Curiosity getting the better of her, she slowly opened the closed door just enough to see inside. Looking inside, she saw a cloaked figure, facing away from her, talking secretively into a pocket mirror.

"The curse you placed on the boy is working perfectly. Every time that Marco boy sees the princess, the curse forces aggression out of him towards her. The princess' friendship with him is as good as dead." Star gasped. It _wasn't_ Marco acting strange. He was being _forced_ to!

"Excellent." Star's eyes widened as she recognized the voice being none other than Tom's. "Once their bond is destroyed and he's put in the dungeons, I shall kill the worthless sack of flesh myself. Until then, we'd best lie low. Return to the castle at once."

"Yes, sir." The cloaked figure responded, closing their pocket mirror. The figure pulled out a pair of dimensional scissors and opened up a portal, probably to the underworld, before walking through it as the portal closed behind them. Star leaned back against the wall before sliding down to a sitting position against the wall, currently processing what she'd just witnessed and the storm of emotions flooding through her.

She felt extremely guilty for how she had treated Marco. He wasn't the one who was being weird lately. The curse was forcing him to act this way. And it seemed Marco had already figured it out, and was avoiding her so he could prevent the curse from activating. She felt horrible for treating him badly and began beating herself up for it.

However, Star decided it would be better to talk to Marco about it—after she cured the curse, of course. Thankfully, she already knew how to cure that specific curse.

…

Marco sat in his room, holding a hand to his throbbing cheek, tears slowly building up in the corner of his eyes. He knew why Star was mad at him, and he knew he was being forced to act hostile towards Star every time he saw her. But that didn't change the fact that it still hurt—both physically and emotionally.

She had slapped him. Hard. He could understand her reasoning. If she had suddenly started acting like that towards him, he would've been upset too. So… why did it still hurt?

A quiet knock at his door brought him out of his thoughts as he heard Star's quiet voice speak up. "Marco? I'm sorry."

Her voice was quivering slightly, like she was struggling to hold back tears. "It's okay, Star. I know why you did it." He said. "I'm sorry for being a jerk lately. But something's forcing me to act weird around you when I really don't want to and I'm really scared."

"I-I know. Listen, I overheard something a couple minutes ago, and… Marco, Tom placed a curse on you." Star said. "And… that curse is why you've been acting this way."

"That doesn't excuse me from being a jerk to you. I'm so sorry." Marco apologized.

Star sighed. "Can I come in?"

"B-but what if I-"

"Hey." Star interrupted him. "It only happens when you see me, right? Maybe if you close your eyes the curse won't make you do things you don't want to."

"W-well… okay, I guess. B-but if it doesn't work, and I act out again, well… I'm sorry in advance." Marco said. He listened as he heard the soft click of the doorknob turning and promptly shut his eyes. Star opened the door and walked in, sitting next to him.

"Hey, Marco…?"

"Yeah?"

Star hesitated slightly before continuing. "I think I know how to get rid of your curse." She said.

"Y-you do?" He said. "Could you get rid of it please? I hated it when I would act horrible towards you."

"Well, the thing is, I'm not so sure if you'd like it."

"Star, I don't care what it is, I just want the curse gone." Marco told her. "I miss being able to hang out with my bestie."

"Well, okay." Star said, mentally preparing herself. 'Please don't be mad…' She thought, before she hesitantly turned to face him. Despite the burning in her cheeks, she leaned forward, capturing his lips in her own.

Marco's mind exploded as he felt Star kiss him softly, unable to think of anything else other than how incredibly soft her lips were. His eyes opened as he stared at Star while she kissed him. At first, he began to panic, until he realized that he wasn't shoving her off of him or verbally lashing out at her against his will. In fact, he only felt pure ecstasy. He had never felt happier in his entire life. It didn't take him long before he realized why: he actually had fallen in love with her, and he began to deepen the kiss.

Unfortunately, they both had to pull back eventually. "S-so, uh… did it work?" She asked nervously as she anxiously awaited his response.

"Yeah… I think it did." He said.

"Oh, thank goodness." She sighed in relief. Her tone switched to regret as she spoke up again. "I'm sorry I kissed you like that without your permission, but it was the easiest way to break the curse. The other way would have been almost impossible."

"Star, if you kiss someone and they start to kiss you back, do you really think they're against it?" He said. "Star… I'm sorry it took me so long, but I just have to say that… I love you."

Star's eyes widened as she smiled brightly, before she nearly tackled him off the bed in a hug. Thankfully, at the last second, she remembered she needed to be careful with him as his injury likely still hurt, and instead just embraced him lightly but firmly.

"Oh, Marco… I love you too!" She exclaimed happily, tears of joy slowly rolling down her cheeks. "I love you too!"


	13. Emotional

**Chapter 13: Emotional**

Star and Marco sat on the boy's bed together, embracing each other. As of approximately ten seconds ago, they had confessed their love for each other after a curse and a misunderstanding nearly tore them apart. Now, they were a couple, and Star couldn't be happier.

Two months ago, she had been completely miserable. She felt like she was just a dull, colorless shell. But now, with Marco here with her, he brought the color back into her life and gave her a reason to live. He was the only one that she felt would truly accept her for who she is, instead of _what_ she is. She may have been royalty, but she was still a teenager.

"Marco…?" Star whispered, gently stroking the boy's back.

"Yeah, Star?" He responded.

"Do you wanna go on a date?"

Marco smiled. "Y-yeah, I'd love to." The two separated from their embrace with large smiles on their faces as they looked into each other's eyes. It was then that Marco noticed that the pale blue irises of Star's eyes were more colorful now. He also noticed her heart cheek marks were about a third of the way fixed: the dull gray broken hearts were now beginning to mend together and fill up with a cheerful pink. "S-Star, your hearts. They're…" The boy failed to finish his sentence as his voice trailed off, just staring at her cheek marks.

Star paused for a moment, feeling one of her cheeks. She looked in the nearby mirror and saw the same changes that Marco had already noticed. Smiling, she turned back to her new boyfriend. "Marco… you're fixing me." She smiled warmly at him.

"But… there was nothing wrong with you to begin with." Marco said hesitantly.

"Oh, don't be silly, Marco. I was a complete wreck before I met you." She said, batting a hand as if he said something ridiculous. "Magic is charged by emotions. If your emotions are unstable, so is your magic. And my magic was screwed up. I mean, it was _veeery_ screwed up. I couldn't do anything right because of it. In fact, I'd have called you crazy if you looked at me and didn't think that I was a complete failure."

Marco began to feel a pang in his chest from listening to her so casually talk down about herself as she kept talking. "But now, I've met you, Marco. The nicest, kindest, and most caring person I know. You gave me a reason to keep on living. You helped keep me sane. You showed me kindness when nobody else would, and you fixed my broken self. You're an amazing person, Marco, and I'd have been crazy to not fall for you."

"W-wow. You… you really feel that way about me?" Marco whispered, feeling touched by Star's words. He was in awe, to say the least.

"Of course I do, Marco." She said, pulling the boy in for another hug. "I just wish I could go back to being my old self again."

"What were you like?" Marco asked.

Star sighed, almost nostalgically so. "I was a completely different person. I used to be happy most of the time, and I wasn't afraid of anything except for Saint Olga's. I was always full of lively energy, and I even had a good relationship with my mom." Star smiled wistfully as she remembered a time where life was still simple, but her smile faded into a deep frown as she continued.

"But… everything changed after I got the wand. I had been practicing it every day, and even made a lot of progress. But… I really messed up." Star said with a frown. "I was out in one of the villages about a week after I got the wand, when I said the wrong spell. I got tongue twisted at the worst possible time, and accidentally set the village on fire. My mom immediately sent me off to Saint Olga's, and that's where my old self died."

"Oh… I'm sorry you had to go through all that." Marco said.

"But, little did I know, that the school I was so afraid of was the least of my worries." Star said. "Saint Olga's was already horrible, but General Wesson's was so much worse."

(X)

 _"Wake up! It's five a.m.!" A guard shouted, banging on the princess' doors. Star woke up with a start, rubbing her tired eyes and getting ready for the day._

 _She still hadn't gotten used to just six hours of sleep every night yet. In a zombie-like state, she disrobed herself and stepped into the shower. Star shrieked as the barely above freezing water chilled her body to its core, not quite used to this, either. And this was at its hottest setting. She had only been there for a week, and was already more miserable than she ever thought possible._

 _After her shower, she put on her fancy, frilly dress, which took nearly five minutes alone because of how complicated it was. Looking in the mirror, she glanced at her gray, broken hearts and lifeless eyes, letting out a very quiet, very miserable groan._

 _At exactly 5:30, her and the other poor souls unlucky enough to be sent here were filed out of their rooms and down to the cafeteria in a military-like fashion for breakfast._

 _They got their breakfast, which looked like an ugly gray goop, smelled like old trash, and tasted even worse. Star actually threw up the first three times she ate it, but she had no choice—everyone eats everything on their plates by 6:00 before anyone leaves, and those who delay it get electrocuted._

 _Star got her "food" and sat in her assigned seat marked Butterfly, between Bolley and Carmen, and wordlessly ate. The goop still made her gag and want to puke, but she forced her stomach to keep its meager contents where they belonged._

 _After breakfast, Star had various "classes" that she had to attend which were three hours each. The class she hated the most was a class on learning how to suppress their emotions. They would be subjected to various emotional stimuli designed specifically to elicit emotions, and they had to remain stoic to pass the "assignments", and a student was subjected to 500 volts every time they showed any emotion. Star had failed everything so far, and had suffered the electrocution punishment countless times in the past week for that one class alone._

 _Star pretty much despised everything now. She despised her teachers, who gave her horrible punishments for messing up even a little. She despised her room, which was more like a prison cell than anything, and smelled of rat poison. She despised her mother, for sending her off in the first place. And she despised herself, for being stupid enough to try casting a friendly spell in that village in the first place._

 _Star even tried making some friends there in an attempt to at least have something going for her, but when it came down to it, they would just stab her in the back to try and keep themselves out of trouble, and she despised them for it. She made a vow that day to push away everyone who tried to make a meaningful connection to her; assuming she'd live long enough to be released from this horrid place._

(X)

"…But, as it turns out, I ended up befriending you after I met you, Marco, breaking my own promise to myself to stay away from other people." Star finished. "And even though I'm really glad I met you, and I wouldn't give up what we have now for anything, I just… can't help but feel like I failed myself."

Marco sat in silence after having listened to Star tell him about her past. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor girl as silent tears flowed down her face and onto his shoulder, and he hugged her a little tighter. He also related to her experiences on a personal level, as the overly harsh punishments over minor mistakes, as well as the poor living conditions she endured, reminded him of the years he had spent under his aunt and uncle's "care".

Marco began to run his fingers through Star's long blond hair, and he heard her give a soft hum of contentment that signaled she was very much enjoying the action. Star's tears began to dry up as she melted under his touch, wordlessly encouraging him to continue.

After about ten minutes, Marco stopped and tried to pull back, but Star gripped his arm and held it in place. "Don't even think of stopping, Diaz." Star told him seriously. "That feels amazing. Don't stop."

"I'm kinda hungry, though." He protested, although he went back to running his fingers through her long golden locks anyway.

"Fine, fine. Just keep doing that for five more minutes." She said.

Half an hour later, the two finally left the room with Marco once again leaning on Star for support, as she had once again insisted that he use her as a crutch. Marco's left arm was slung over her shoulders for support, and Star had her right arm around the boy's waist, holding him close. His head laid on her shoulder, and she leaned her head on his own in return with a smile plastered on both of their faces.

"May I ask what you two are doing?"

The two teens stopped and Star visibly tensed up as her mother approached the two with a look of disapproval. She crossed her arms in front of her as Star's features filled with nervousness and disdain while Marco just tried to figure out why the queen sounded upset.

"We were just headed down towards the kitchen so Marco could eat something." Star answered her mother, tightening her hold around her new lover.

"Why are you two holding each other intimately?" Moon questioned, gazing at her daughter's hand around the boy's waist.

Star just rolled her eyes. "Mom, Marco's still hurt, you know. Doctor Clerton may have released him, but he can barely walk without hurting himself because of his injury." She said, as though it were obvious. "So I'm making him use me as support so he can still go anywhere he wants. Besides, what we do is none of your business, anyway!"

"Star, you are in no position to disrespect me, young lady. A proper princess respects her elders at all times." Moon chastised. "I would've thought Saint Olga's would've gotten rid of your troublesome attitude."

At the mention of St. Olga's, Star felt anger flare up inside her. "Oh, yeah? You mean they were supposed to turn me into a _prissy little princess_ and shape me into a mold that's copied on every royal?" She spat. "Well, guess what?! I don't give a damn about that prissy princess crap! I'd rather live as a peasant in crippling poverty than be a princess! You know why? Peasants don't have to hide their true selves!"

"Star Butterfly, you had better watch your language, before I send you to Saint Olga's—"

"Oh, sure. Just ship me off again! I'm sure you'd _love_ to hear all about my time there when I get back, right? Wanna hear all about how I learn how to be a 'proper princess' by being electrocuted every time I misbehaved? Maybe you'd like to hear all about how they injected me with drugs and chemicals to fix my behavior!" Star shouted. "Or how they would feed me some sludge that tasted like Warnicorn crap for breakfast every day! _Or how about the 78 times they raped me?!_ I bet you'd LOVE to know about how your _precious_ 'daughter' tried to _KILL_ herself countless times because of a place that YOU SENT ME TO! _RIGHT,_ ** _MOON?!_** "

Star panted as she breathed heavily after yelling at the top of her lungs. Queen Moon stood there in shock; not just because her daughter refused to acknowledge her as her mother, but also because of the unbridled rage in her voice and expression. She was _livid_. The look in Star's eyes was of a hatred so intense, she couldn't remember even a single instance when she saw someone more angry than her daughter was right now.

Star didn't give her any time to speak, however, as she just picked Marco up in both arms and marched past her mother, though she paused for a second and turned her head back. "Oh, and one more thing. If I haven't made it clear already, I _hate_ you. If you were to drop dead right now, I would _celebrate_." She hissed. "If you care about me at all, you'll leave me alone and NEVERtalk to me again!"

She stormed off angrily, rounding the corner as she panted furiously while tears streamed down her face. Star began breathing heavily as the rush of emotions flooded her body with an imaginary tingling sensation.

Except it wasn't imaginary. Star was breathing so heavily and quickly that her lungs were unable to absorb the oxygen she required fast enough before the air was huffed out again. Her entire body, inside and out, felt like she was being poked with pins and needles as her anger continued to get the better of her and her body quickly weakened due to her oxygen deprived state.

"Star, are you okay? You, uh… you don't look too good." Marco commented.

"I hate her!" Star spat harshly between hyperventilating breaths, falling to the floor on her knees while still holding Marco. "I… hate… her…!"

"Star?" Marco asked, concerned.

"I… h-hate…" She didn't even finish as her body slumped over, having finally passed out, due indirectly to sheer anger alone.


	14. Kidnapped

**Chapter 14: Kidnapped**

"Star?!" Marco exclaimed. After she just passed out on the floor, with him still in her arms, he was considerably worried about her. From his point of view, she just randomly passed out, and he didn't really know what to do.

Ultimately, he decided it might at least be better if Star was laying in her own bed instead of on the cold floor. And since they weren't very far from Star's room at the moment, it wouldn't be too difficult.

…

When Star came to, she felt someone carrying her slowly. As she looked up at who was carrying her, she felt guilt flood her body when she saw Marco's strained expression and noticed how he flinched every other step.

"Oh, no…"

"Star?" Marco said, the surprise nearly making him lose his balance. The girl picked herself up out of his arms and then picked him up, holding him in her arms.

"Marco, why did you do that?" Star asked. "I'm supposed to be the one helping you, not the other way around."

"Well, uh… you just passed out, and I didn't want you to be sleeping on the floor." He answered.

Star sighed. "Let's just get something for you to eat." She carried him into his room, placing him on the bed, and gave him a short hug. "I'll be back faster this time, okay? I won't be long, I promise." She said, leaving the room and heading towards the kitchen.

When she arrived, she opened the door to the currently empty kitchen and walked inside. It was at least a couple hours before dinner would be served, so nobody was in the kitchen at the time.

Star decided to grab a couple of apples for the two of them and headed back to Marco's room.

"Hey Marco, I'm back. I got an apple for you." Star said as she opened the door to his room. "How are you doing in here? Is everything okay?"

When Star looked over towards Marco's bed, however, it was empty; the boy nowhere to be found. On top of that, the room showed signs of a short struggle and some charred footprints covered the ground. Star immediately panicked.

She dropped the apples she was holding right there, running full speed back to her room like her life depended on it; because Marco's life probably did. She ended up bumping into Queen Moon on her way, who stopped her for a second.

"Star, I think we need to have a talk." She said, with seriousness in her voice.

"Not now! Marco's in danger and I have to go save him!" Star said, running off past her mom at full speed, ignoring her mother as she raced to her room.

"Star Butterfly! Come back here!" Moon called after her, but Star was already gone. "Ugh."

Star threw open the door to her room as it slammed against the wall, grabbing her wand and the pair of dimensional scissors she kept hidden for emergencies. She tore a portal into the air, jumping through with no hesitation before closing it back up.

In front of her, a large castle stood towering over the hellish landscape around her, and fires were ablaze all over the place, but it didn't seem to be burning anything. But Star didn't care about that at all.

"Oh, wand-o, where's Marco?! Take me to him!" She exclaimed frantically, causing a thin red beam to appear, leading her directly into the ominous castle in front of her.

She hastily ran inside, following the red beam through the castle. "Don't worry Marco, I'm coming to save you!" Star yelled, even though she knew he probably couldn't hear her.

…

Marco awoke with a groan, opening his eyes slowly. He felt a throbbing pain in the back of his head and tried to lift a hand to feel it, but a rattling sound told him that he couldn't move. He looked down and noticed the thick chains wrapped around his entire body and binding him to a table, causing him to panic as he struggled to move.

"Don't bother. Those chains are designed specifically to keep you tied up. You're not going anywhere."

Marco stopped struggling and looked in the direction that the voice came from, and he saw Tom standing there with a dark expression. He froze up in fear as the demon walked towards him.

"Wh-why do you hate me so much? What did I do to deserve this?" Marco pleaded, hoping to reason with him.

"What did you _do_?" Tom spat. "You stole my Starship from me! She's supposed to be _mine_!" He hurled a fireball at Marco, striking him in the gut. The teen yelled in pain as the heat pierced through the chains and his thin clothing. Once he regathered his bearings, the boy spoke up.

"B-but I—"

"Silence!" Tom shouted, causing the boy to shut up immediately. "Now, it doesn't matter. Because I have a plan to take back what is rightfully mine!"

Marco looked at him nervously as Tom walked over to a chest, opening it up and pulling something out. He couldn't see what it was, as Tom seemed to deliberately keep it out of the boy's sight, but he knew it couldn't be good.

"Once you're out of the way, nobody will keep me from her ever again. She will be mine and mine alone!" Tom walked up to him, placing the item in his pocket and charging up a deadly fireball.

"Please help me, Star… I don't want to die…" Marco whimpered quietly, as tears fell down his cheeks.

…

As Star was running through the castle that was very big, even bigger than Butterfly Castle, following the red beam of light towards Marco, she began to feel a sense of dread. What if she couldn't get there in time? What was Marco going through right now? What if… she was already too late?

The dreadful thoughts and worries continued to plague the Butterfly's mind, and she ran even faster, trying her best to ignore the overwhelming aching in her legs and the burning fire in her lungs. Nothing was more important than getting to Marco before it was too late. _Nothing._

Suddenly, she heard the boy in question scream out in pain, and Star panicked even more. On the bright side, at least he was still alive, and if she could hear him, she must be close. On the other hand, though, that meant Tom was doing something to him, and he might not even be alive for much longer if she didn't get there in time.

Star pressed onwards, the red beam leading her to a large set of doors. As soon as she reached the doors, she slammed them open, panting heavily and scanning the room for Marco. She quickly found him chained up to a table with Tom preparing a fireball, ready to burn the boy alive.

"MARCO!" Star yelled, catching both of their attention as she immediately ran over to him. At the same time, Tom released the fireball, and it sped towards Marco at an alarming speed. Marco didn't even have time to process his name being called as Star flung herself between him and the fireball, letting out a loud shriek of pain as the fire seared her flesh. Star slumped over onto the shocked teen, tears building up in her eyes.

"S-Star? Wh-wha-what…?" Marco stuttered, unable to form a complete sentence. Star just smiled up at him before shakily bringing herself to her feet as she turned around to face her evil ex.

"S-stay… away… f-from my… _boyfriend_." Star said through clenched teeth, clutching her wand in a death grip.

"Wha-? B-but you're supposed to hate each other." Tom said, clearly confused.

"Newsflash Thomas; your stupid curse didn't work." She said. "Now… you will leave me and my _boyfriend_ alone, or I will have my mother wage war on you and your kingdom."

Tom growled. "I knew it! That worthless piece of garbage stole you away from me!"

Star, however, ignored him as she used her wand to get rid of the chains around Marco, who nearly collapsed onto the floor as soon as she did. Thankfully, Star managed to catch him before he did, holding him tightly to her chest.

"Thanks f-for saving me, Star." Marco said weakly. "I'm s-sorry I wasn't able t-to defend myself from Tom."

"It's okay, Marco. It's not your fault." Star whispered. "Tom is just a selfish monster who only cares about himself."

Suddenly, Star yelled in pain as another fireball burned her back, causing both teens to collapse onto the floor. She shakily pulled her dimensional scissors from her pocket and opened a portal in the floor, pushing Marco through as he fell onto Star's bed in her room on Mewni.

Star began to crawl towards the portal herself when Tom grabbed her leg and pulled her back, digging his claws into her arms, drawing blood as she screamed in pain.

"L-let… go of me!" She demanded, struggling in a futile attempt to get free. Tom threw her against a pillar, causing her to fall to the floor in pain. She aimed her wand at the demon and fired a spell that froze him in a block of ice, and Star allowed herself to breath a sigh of relief.

Star crawled over towards the portal she had opened, making sure she still had her wand and scissors. She had almost made it when she noticed the ice rapidly melting. Mere seconds passed before Tom was freed, and Star rushed towards the portal and fell through with the little strength she had left, closing it a split second before Tom flew through the portal and attacked them.

Once she was certain that the danger was gone, she allowed herself to collapse face down on the bed as she grimaced in pain.

"S-Star…" Marco groaned.

"I-it's okay, Marco. I-I'm here." Star stuttered, dragging herself over to the boy a couple feet from her. "I p-promise, I'm never letting you out of my sight again." She pulled the boy into a soft kiss, which he gladly returned. They pulled away after a couple seconds, and Marco began to cry suddenly.

"I was so s-scared, Star." Marco sobbed. "I th-thought he was gonna k-kill me."

Star rolled onto her side and tenderly pulled him into a hug, and began to cry as well. "I'm so sorry, Marco. It's my f-fault you're hurt." She hiccuped. "I was scared too, Marco. I didn't wanna l-lose you. I love you too much to lose you."

The two teens laid there for a while, sobbing into each other's shoulders as they let out all of their anguish over the horrible experience.

They were both badly hurt over the ordeal. Marco had been burned on his left leg, and the bandages on his wound had fallen off, and his wound had been reopened, causing blood to trickle down his left side. In addition, he had been burned on his stomach, and his clothing was black and burnt where the fireball had struck him.

Star was physically better off, even if only slightly. The back of her dress had a spot that had been completely burned up, showing the ugly burn on her skin, which was bleeding and staining the fabric around it with blood. Her hair had also been singed, and several strands had been burned to nearly half way up her back.

"Marco, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault." Star hiccuped, choking back tears. "If I hadn't left you by yourself, you wouldn't have almost died."

Marco didn't respond at first, and Star grew immensely worried over his lack of a response, until she heard a soft snore leave the boy's mouth. Star let out a sigh of relief, realizing that Marco had just simply fallen asleep… somehow. She wasn't sure how Marco could have fallen asleep so quickly, especially since he was likely in pain still, but she wasn't going to question it, and she definitely wasn't going to wake him up.

Instead, Star just attempted to cast a healing spell on the boy, but she frowned when nothing happened. "Oh, right. My magic is still… broken." Star sighed softly, watching her boyfriend as he slept, likely exhausted from the day's events.

At least the failed healing spell didn't make things worse.

Instead, Star decided to patch him up using the first aid kit the two had brought along while they were running away together. She carefully raised his ruined hoodie and shirt up out of the way, and began to put some disinfectant on a cotton ball before gently dabbing the burn with it. This caused Marco to awake with a start as he hissed in pain, startling Star as he sat up quickly.

"Sorry!" She exclaimed. "I just need to do something about your burns."

"It's okay, I just… wasn't expecting it, is all. You know, being asleep and everything." Marco said. Star smiled softly. "What about you, though? I think Tom really got you on your back."

"Alright, alright. I'll patch you up, then I'll let you patch me up." Star relented. "Then we'll get some food."

…

An hour later, after the two teens had finished up their medical treatment on each other and eaten dinner, they sat in Star's bedroom, all patched up. Star had carried Marco everywhere, insisting that he shouldn't be walking even with help because of the burn on his left leg.

"Hey, Star? Thanks for everything today." Marco said. "I really owe you one."

Star embraced him suddenly, wrapping her arms around the boy's shoulders to avoid his injuries. "Marco Diaz, you do not owe me anything. I'd be a horrible person if I made you repay me for saving your life and helping you when you're hurt." Star said.

"Oh, sorry."

"You don't have to apologise for anything, Marco. Besides, I'm just glad you're safe." Star smiled. "Now, come on. Let's get some sleep."

"Okay, um… could you help me back to my room?"

"Actually, I'm having you sleep in here with me tonight." Star replied, before her face turned into a fearful expression. "I can't risk you getting hurt like that again. I'm not letting you out of my sight ever again if I can help it."

"Oh. So, uh…" Marco began, though he lost his train of thought when Star pulled him down onto the bed with her in a gentle embrace.

"Good night, Marco." Star said.

Marco smiled softly, allowing himself to slowly drift off to sleep in his girlfriend's arms. "Good night, Star." He said. "I love you."

Star smiled as she heard this, bringing him closer to her in their embrace. "I love you too, Marco."


	15. A Well Deserved Rest

**Chapter 15: A Well Deserved Rest**

The sunlight peered through Star's bedroom windows, as a new day began on Mewni. Star lay awake in her bed, her arms still wrapped protectively around Marco, as though she was afraid something would happen to him if she let go. She had been awake for a few minutes now, but she didn't feel like getting up yet, so she continued to lay still in the bed. As she laid there for a while, she would occasionally feel him shift around in his sleep, and at one point he even scooted closer to Star, melting in her embrace while he slept.

The girl laid there for a while, content to just have the boy in her protective embrace as she enjoyed the quiet morning. If Star was being honest, it felt like the two hadn't had a single moment of peace in forever, as something always went wrong, every single day, and it stressed her out. She just wanted a day where she didn't have to worry about Tom, who would constantly tried to kidnap her or kill Marco, or about her mother, who seemed to only care about her being a good princess and nothing else.

Then there was Marco. Even though Star had saved him from an endless cycle of being abused by his guardians and being bullied at school, he was still very clearly scarred over the years of torment he had gone through. And now, with Tom trying to kill him nearly every other day, he had just as much to deal with as she did.

Was it too much to ask for to just have a day to themselves where nothing went wrong?

Unfortunately, there were no spells to prevent someone from having a bad time in their life, otherwise she'd use it every single day ten times a day; five times on herself and the other five on Marco. However, since such a spell didn't exist, she'd have to rely almost entirely on pure luck; and since Star's luck has always been horrible, she quickly learned to just always anticipate the worst, even if it seemed like things were going perfectly at the time.

Star was pulled out of her thoughts suddenly when she heard Marco muttering something softly, though she couldn't quite make it out.

"What was that, Marco?" She asked.

Marco muttered again as he shifted slightly in the bed, and Star heard him say something about strawberries. Star smiled softly when she realized he was talking in his sleep, but more importantly, he seemed to be having a pleasant dream.

Star glanced over at the clock by her bed and saw it was around 8:30. As much as she wanted to sleep in and cuddle, Star realized it would probably be a bad idea. If she slept in too long, her mother would lecture her again, and she wasn't in the mood to tolerate a lecture today. So she slid out of bed, careful to not disturb her sleeping boyfriend, or the nasty burn on her own back, and she began to tiptoe off towards her bathroom to get ready.

After a few minutes of the usual preparation for the day, along with a little self-treatment on her burns, she left her room. Although, before leaving, she also ordered some trained guards to watch over Marco to make sure he was safe, but to not let themselves be seen by him if he woke up, and she refused to leave her room at all until all five of them arrived.

…

Meanwhile, Queen Moon was also preparing for the day as usual. While she put her makeup on in the mirror, her mind wandered back to the previous day when Star had her angry outburst. She had stated (or yelled, rather) that she was completely miserable there and they were abusing her. Moon just couldn't believe it though; it seemed preposterous. St. Olga's was a school designed to help princesses be the best princess they could be, and she had never once heard of any cases of abuse or mistreatment.

But, as she thought back to the look Star gave her, a look filled with pure anger directed entirely at her, she began having second doubts. Moon had never seen her daughter display so much emotion all at once. In fact, she couldn't recall a single time when she had seen _anyone_ so angry for any reason.

Moon pondered for a bit and, after a few minutes, decided to check the online Mewnipedia on her mirror to make sure.

Moon stood in front of the mirror in a graceful and elegant pose, like a true queen would, even though she was alone. After a brief moment of hesitation, she spoke.

"Mirror mirror, give me information on Saint Olga's Reform School." Moon commanded. The screen flashed for a bit as it loaded the information from the multiversal web.

" _Okay. I found an article on 'Saint Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses' published two days ago. Would you like me to read it for you?_ " The automated computer voice said.

"Yes, please." Moon stated. It would be more time efficient to listen to the information while she finished getting ready, anyway. She was a little confused as to why the article was so new, but she shrugged it off.

" _Saint Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses is a reform school built to help royal princesses become more dignified and ladylike so they can properly rule their own kingdoms when they become queen. It was founded 384 years ago by Saint Olga, who worked as the headmistress for 78 years before Miss Heinous took over the role, who remained the head mistress for the remaining 306 years until the school was shut down last week. Documents had been released which detailed of cruel and abusive tactics to control princesses that stepped out of line, as well as attempting to brainwash every student into becoming a generic, lifeless shell._ "

Moon stopped what she was doing as soon as she heard this, her eyes widening in shock as she leaned in closer towards the mirror. "That couldn't have happened to Star, though… right?" She whispered to herself.

" _Some of the students_ _were transferred to another school entirely, General Wesson's Military School for Rebellious Princesses. This school is a private school that was built nearly 200 years ago by Headmistress Heinous that princesses cannot be directly admitted to, and are only sent there if the reform school can't handle them._

" _This military school tortures its occupants to near death and serves a gray slime as its only food, barely giving enough nutrients to survive. In addition, several of the guards sexually abuse the princesses there, and the princesses typically get only four to six hours of sleep per night. Multiple princesses have perished at this school, and those who survive are left mentally and psychologically scarred for life. Suicide attempts are a daily occurance among occupants of the school and are the leading cause of death, however, these attempts have a very low success rate; approximately 0.13% of attempts are successful. One princess, Star Butterfly, has been recorded as attempting suicide nearly 500 times during the 16 months she spent there, although none of them have succeeded._ "

"Stop reading." Moon commanded. The mirror heeded her command as it became silent after a short confirmation message.

She sat down on the stool, her head spinning over all the new information she had learned. Apparently, Star hadn't been exaggerating at all in her rage, and to make matters worse, based on what the article had said, the damage that had been done was permanent, like losing a limb or an eye.

Moon remembered when she had returned from her trip and found her daughter sulking in her room, with the royal wand sitting on her desk collecting dust. She had admittedly found it a little odd that the item Star had begged to use all her life was completely untouched on her desk, but she had just shrugged it off.

Now she felt bad over all the trauma she had unknowingly put her daughter through. Sure, being a good princess was important, but so was being happy. And Moon had, without even knowing it, effectively killed her daughter's happiness, and she couldn't help but berate herself over being so blind as to not even notice Star's near constant frown, which seemed painfully obvious now.

She really needed to talk with her daughter.

Moon's mirror began ringing suddenly, and she saw King Pony Head's name on screen. She pressed the button to answer, and the floating head of a pony with a crown appeared on screen.

"Queen Butterfly, there's an emergency in the Cloud kingdom." King Pony Head said urgently. "My daughter has gone missing!"

"Which one?" Moon asked.

"Lilacia Ponyhead. The one who's friends with your daughter."

"Oh, that shouldn't be an issue, then." Moon said dismissively. "If I recall correctly, Lilacia sneaks out all the time. She'll probably be back in a few hours at the latest."

"But, Queen Butterfly, you don't understand. She's already been gone for three days."

Moon paused at this. "She's never been gone more than several hours before… correct?" She asked hesitantly.

"No, she hasn't. I fear she may have been kidnapped." King Pony Head said gravely. "There is an urgent meeting at 9:00 and your presence will be of great help."

"I'll be there shortly." She said, ending the call. She supposed the talk with Star would have to wait.

…

Star had finally returned to her bedroom after an hour and she dismissed the guards. Her mother had been strangely absent from breakfast; not that she was complaining. In fact, if she was being honest, she was thankful for this stroke of luck. However, she was a bit confused when she returned to her room with a full breakfast prepared for Marco only to find him leaning over her bed, arranging most of her pillows against the side of her bed, facing the wall.

"Um… Marco, what are you doing?" She asked in confusion.

He turned around suddenly, slightly startled at first, and he looked almost guilty as she gazed at him. "Oh, hey Star, I was just, um, trying to… uh… straighten your bed for you?"

"Okay…" Star said. "What were you really doing?"

Marco sighed. "I wanted to surprise you but I didn't think you'd be back so soon." He admitted. "I wanted us to watch a movie together or something as a way to relax."

"Marco, that's a great idea; I don't know why you tried to hide it. I'd love to watch a movie with you." Star told him. She set the tray of food down on the bed next to him. "I also brought you some breakfast."

"Oh, thanks, Star." Marco said brightly, his nervousness instantly fading as a smile spread on his face. He eagerly began eating the food Star brought for him while the princess in question scrolled through the movies on her mirror, looking for one they'd both enjoy.

Star turned around from standing at her mirror after a bit as she smirked at Marco. "You know you set the pillows on the wrong side of the bed, right?" She teased, causing Marco to flush in embarrassment. Star simply used her wand to move the pillows to the other side of the bed so they were facing the magic mirror on her wall as she finally found a movie to watch. She pressed play, and the mirror rotated by ninety degrees so it was in landscape mode, and the oval shaped screen shifted into a rectangular shaped one as the opening of the movie began to play.

"Seriously though, why _did_ you try to hide this?" Star asked as she carefully sat down, trying to find a position that wouldn't disturb her burns too much

Marco grew nervous again as he shyly averted her gaze. "I don't know…" He admitted sheepishly.

"Also, one more thing." She began sternly as the boy looked at her curiously. "Don't ever try to do anything that involves moving around again until you're all healed up."

"Uh… what about you, though? You looked a little stiff when you sat down just now." Marco commented, as Star sighed.

"Well, I have to be able to protect you. I can't do that if I can't ignore a little pain. Besides, I've been through _far_ worse at that hellhole." She shuddered. "If I'm being honest, Marco, I'd rather lose both my arms than spend another day _there_. But I'd stay for a year if it meant keeping you safe."

Marco didn't really know what to say to that, and the realization quickly set in that she was willing to put herself through literal hell to keep him from getting hurt.

He couldn't decide if that was good or bad.

On the plus side, it showed just how deeply the princess cared for him, and it made his heart soar at the thought. Nobody on Earth had even tried holding a normal conversation with him, but Star had turned his miserable life around for the better in ways he couldn't even imagine.

But on the other hand, she was willing to risk her life for him, and he was terrified that someday, she may end up losing the gamble on her own life because of him—even if it was indirectly. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her at all, and he almost began crying at just the thought of it.

Marco decided it was best to not say anything in response, and he turned his focus to the movie.

The two sat in silence for the rest of the movie, simply enjoying being with the other person. About half way through the movie, Star had leaned her head on Marco's shoulder, and she stayed like that for the rest of the movie. The two were content with everything today so far, as it finally looked like they might have a day where nothing went wrong.


	16. Royalty

**Chapter 16: Royalty**

Queen Moon sat in the board room of Ponyhead Castle, along with several other nobles. It had only been an hour or so since she got the mirror call from King Ponyhead right after she discovered the disturbing truth about St. Olga's. As much as she wanted to talk to her daughter about it, there were more pressing matters to deal with right now.

"Attention everyone, we have an important issue that needs dealt with." King Ponyhead announced at exactly 9:00, getting straight to the point. "My daughter, Lilacia Ponyhead, has been missing for three days now. Normally, I wouldn't be too concerned, since she likes to sneak out all the time, but she's never been gone this long before; not even close."

As always, Moon kept up her stone faced mask of apathy, even though she did care about the issue. A missing princess was a big deal, after all.

"We need to send our troops east, north, and south to search for her, but we only have about a thousand soldiers." King Ponyhead continued.

"We could send some of our troops to the north, King Ponyhead." A king at the other end of the table offered.

"Thank you, King Patrick. Your kindness is much appreciated."

"Hey guys, what's goin' on here? Y'all look like a band of rogue monsters are attacking or somethin'."

Everyone in attendance turned to the doorway to see none other than Princess Lilacia Ponyhead herself floating casually in the doorway with a couple of suitcases by her side.

"Lilacia! Where exactly have you been?!" The king demanded. "We were about to send out search parties to find you because you disappeared for the past three days!"

"Oh, I get it." Ponyhead scoffed. "Just because I leave on vacation for a few days without telling anyone; it automatically means I'm missing. Well I was just on vacation, okay? Y'all need to chill out."

King Ponyhead slowly turned back to the other nobles, who were looking between the two Ponyheads, and he grinned sheepishly. "I… deeply apologise for the inconvenience, everyone. You may call off the search parties, Sir Frederick."

"Will do, your majesty." One of the knights replied, bowing politely.

"As for you, King Patrick, your troops are not necessary anymore. You may reserve your troops."

"Yes sir, Mr. King, sir!" King Patrick said, saluting. King Ponyhead rolled his eyes.

"Meeting dismissed, everyone. You may return to your respective kingdoms."

Queen Moon sighed with relief and annoyance. Ponyhead did things like this often; inconveniencing several people because of something she had done, whether it was intentional or not.

"Oh hey, Queen Moon. Over here." Ponyhead called out as Moon began to leave. "Hey, could you tell Star I said hi for me? Okay, thanks!"

Moon simply rolled her eyes and left.

"Wow, rude." Ponyhead scoffed. "Whatever. I'm just gonna call her myself." Ponyhead floated through the castle and entered her room, approaching the mirror. "Call Star."

A knock was heard on her door soon after, and Ponyhead turned towards it. "Huh, that was fast." When she opened the door, however, she was immediately met with a crazed Tom at her door, who quickly stuffed her into a sack he was holding.

"Hey, demon boy! You know, it's rude to show up at my door without giving me some sort of gift, okay?" Ponyhead's muffled voice complained from within the sack. "And this don't seem like no gift to me!"

"Would you _shut up_ in there?!" Tom hissed.

"Wow. Sounds like somebody forgot to eat their breakfast today. I know I'd be pretty grouchy if I didn't eat breakfast."

Tom growled in annoyance.

"Oh hey, was that your stomach? See, I told you. Just eat your breakfast and you won't be such a grumpy-grump." Ponyhead lectured. "Go eat a Snookers or something. It always works on TV."

…

After the movie ended, Star had decided to take Marco out into a nearby village on their first date as a couple. Star had summoned Cloudy so Marco wouldn't have to use his injured leg, although Star was on Cloudy as well. There was a local carnival in town that would be around for a few days, and Star had decided it would be fun to go visit.

"Hey, Marco, what's your favorite snack food?" Star asked casually while the two waited in line at a food stand.

"Umm…" Marco thought for a minute. "Nachos, I think. Though I haven't had any in years."

"Well, maybe they have some here." Star said. "Even though the food is cheap, it's not bad tasting."

"Next." A voice called out.

Star and Marco were now at the front of the line, and behind the counter was a short, muscled man with a beard. "Hello, and welcome to…" The man paused, noticing the two teens were floating on a pink magical cloud with a face. He recovered quickly and continued. "Hello, and welcome to Isaac's Food Truck. How may I help you today?"

"Do you serve nachos here?" Star asked politely.

"We sure do, ma'am. Would you like a small, medium, or large?" The man stated.

Star looked at Marco. "What size, Marco?"

"Uh, medium."

"Two mediums, please." Star said.

"Anything else I can get you today?" The man asked in a bored tone.

"No thanks." Star declined.

"Okay, that'll be $11.38." The man told her, ringing up the register. Star took the money from her pocket and gave the man exact change. He turned around and handed them two medium-sized orders of nachos. As the two thanked him and had Cloudy carry them off, the man muttered under his breath. "Lazy teenagers… can't even be bothered to walk themselves anymore."

Star heard this, and she stopped and turned towards the man. "Excuse me, what did you just say?" The princess warned, clearly irritated.

The man was unfazed by her comment. "Ma'am, it might be a good idea for both of you to get off the cloud and walk around on your own. The exercise can be good for you."

"Well, what if we're injured? What if Marco and I fought a literal demon with fire powers just yesterday, and we _barely_ made it out alive?" Star asked harshly. "Because that's exactly what happened! Marco's leg got burned to the point that he can't even walk right now. Maybe you'd like to see the second degree burn running all the way down his leg? Or how about the giant third degree burn I got that's the size of my head?!"

"Ma'am, all you had to do was say that you were injured." The man stated casually. "Next customer, please."

Star exhaled, annoyed by the guy at the food stand and his assumptions.

"Why didn't you just tell him you're the princess?" Marco asked.

"Because, Marco, I _hate_ pulling the princess card." Star answered. "It just feels like something my mom would do."

Star's phone began to ring suddenly, and she pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the caller ID. "Speaking of which, that's her." Star stated flatly, opening the pocket mirror and answering the call. "What is it, mom?"

"Star, I need you to come back to the castle. I need to talk to you about something." Queen Moon said from the other end. "It's very important."

Star sighed. "What am I in trouble for this time?"

"You're not in trouble, Star, I just really need to have a talk with you." Moon told her.

"Fine. I'll be there in a minute or two." Star replied, hanging up. "Well, I guess we'll have to continue our date another time, Marco. I'm really sorry about that."

"It's fine, Star. I understand." Marco reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Star smiled, giving the boy a hug, which he gladly returned.

Cloudy carried the couple back to the castle, and Star brought Marco to his room, gently setting him on the bed. She gave him a gentle peck on the forehead as she prepared to leave the room.

"I'll be back soon, okay? Until then, I got you this." Star said, handing Marco what appeared to be a small device with a single, red button.

"Uh… what is this?" Marco asked curiously.

"It's an emergency calling… device… thing. Just press the red button, and I'll get an alarm on this," she held up a matching device that had a red light instead of a button, "and it will lead me to you from anywhere in the universe. Plus, it's nearly indestructible."

"Um, Star? I don't really think this is necessary." Marco said hesitantly. "Don't you think you're being just a little bit paranoid?"

"Look, I'm worried about you, okay? You got kidnapped twice already and I can't risk a third time." Star said, clearly upset. "Just please promise me you'll keep it with you at all times?"

"Okay, I promise." Marco relented.

Star smiled. "Thanks, Marco." She said, giving the boy a brief hug before leaving.

Star left the room and went towards her own bedroom, and as she entered, she saw her mother sitting on her bed. Her smile disappeared as she saw her mother was waiting for her.

"Hello Star, darling."

"Alright. Let's get this over with." Star sighed, sitting on the bed. "What did you want to talk about?"

Moon hesitated, knowing she should pick her words carefully. "I wanted to talk to you… about St. Olga's."

Being delicate with words was not her strong point.

Star immediately shot up, fury coursing through her body. "If you think you're sending me back there, you've got another thing coming, lady!" She yelled. "Do you have _any_ idea how horrible that place is?!"

Moon sighed. "Yes, I do. I—"

"So you KNEW you shipped me off to a _living hell_?!" Star yelled, tears coming from her eyes.

"No, Star, it's not like that. Please, let me finish." Moon told her. Star sat back down on the bed, crossing her arms as she waited for Queen Moon to explain herself.

"Talk."

Moon sighed. "When I sent you there, I really had no idea what was really inside. But recently, I searched up St. Olga's and the article said they abuse the princesses there."

"That's putting it lightly." Star scoffed.

"And, the article also talked about… General Wesson's Military School." Moon continued, despite being interrupted. Star tensed up at the name, another tear running down her cheek. Moon noticed. "The article even mentioned you by name as having attempted suicide… about 400 times." She hesitated.

"Actually, it was closer to 500 times. Some of my attempts were private." Star said. "Do you only care about my endless suicide attempts because you'd have to get another princess if I succeeded?" She asked flatly, though the quivering in her voice was unmistakeable.

"No, Star. I care about you as my daughter, not just as a princess, and I am so, so sorry I sent you there. Please believe me when I say I had the best of intentions, and I never meant for this to happen." She apologized. "Would you forgive me?"

Star's expression softened a bit as she heard this. Never in her life had she ever heard of her mom apologizing for any reason, even if she was obviously wrong from the very beginning. She almost felt tempted to say that yes, she forgives her, but the memories of her time at General Wesson's reared its ugly head and Star suddenly found herself in the prison cell again, being harshly violated by the guards against her will. She shook her head violently to clear her thoughts.

"'Sorry' doesn't change the past." Star said coldly. Her expression hardened, and she turned back to her mom. " _Maybe_. _Maybe_ I'll forgive you. I have to think about it." She said. "Now could you leave, please? I'd like to take a nap."

Star watched her mother leave the room looking a bit upset, while Star kept scowling in her direction. Once Queen Moon had left the room completely, she fell backwards onto her bed with a huff.

"She's faking it. She has to be." Star said to herself. "There's no way she would admit to being wrong. I don't believe her at all."

Star couldn't deny that she had been waiting for an apology like that for a long time. But she didn't want to forgive her, as her mind continued stubbornly holding on to the grudge she had against her mother. Star had hated her mother for sending her to that reform school, and the hate only intensified when she was "randomly selected" to be transferred to General Wesson's (Star knew better though; she knew it wasn't random).

Even before Star had been sent to St. Olga's, her mother never seemed to pay much attention to her wants or needs (other than basic necessities), instead focusing on molding her into a "perfect princess" for the good of the kingdom. She hadn't even noticed Star's shifting personality while she dated Tom, as the relationship gradually became more and more abusive.

If her mother had payed more attention to her, she could've avoided the whole Tom fiasco in the first place. Instead, she had gotten dangerously close to being Tom's slave forever.

Now, Moon had come and apologized to her, asking for her daughter's forgiveness. But Star couldn't let go of the grudge she's held for so long, or at least, not very easily, anyway, as her past experiences haunted her, reminding her of all the reasons she shouldn't forgive her mother.

However, she couldn't deny that a small part of her did want to forgive her mother anyway.


	17. Unfolding Chaos

**Chapter 17: Unfolding Chaos**

Tom arrived at his castle and dumped Ponyhead into a cell, then slammed the door shut on her before she could leave.

"Hey! What gives, dude?" Ponyhead exclaimed. "By the way, this place smells like burned toast. You need to clean this place up."

"Alright Ponyhead…" Tom began, ignoring Ponyhead's remark. "What is Star's weakness, and how can I use it to make her mine? Talk!"

"Alright alright, chill out, dude. You _really_ didn't eat breakfast this morning, did you?" Ponyhead said, rolling her eyes.

"TALK!" Tom demanded, getting impatient.

"Okay, fine. Rude. Anyway, last time I saw her, she seemed pretty attached to that Earth boy." She said finally. "But that's all I'm telling you."

"Tell me something I _don't_ know!" Tom fumed. "And I've already tried getting rid of him. That little pest is awfully persistent at staying alive. Now tell me something I can actually _use_ against her!"

"Hey! Did you not hear me? I said that's all I'm telling you." Ponyhead retorted.

Tom reached in and grabbed her by the horn, pulling her up to the bars that separated the two. "If you don't tell me what I want to know, I won't hesitate to kill you!" He hissed. "Last warning. What is Star's weakness?" Ponyhead looked back at him, finally having cracked under the pressure as she was visibly worried for the first time since Tom kidnapped her.

"Okay, so, I would be gulping in nervousness right now, but I don't have a stomach." Ponyhead remarked. Tom glared warningly at her. "Okay okay, fine! I'll tell you her weakness. Star's weakness is blueberries. Anything with blueberries. Y'know, blueberry pie, blueberry muffins, blueberry poptarts, even just plain ol' blueberries."

"So she's allergic to blueberries…" Tom mused to himself thoughtfully.

"What? No, she's not allergic to blueberries. She's not allergic to anything, actually." Ponyhead said in a matter-of-fact tone. "No, Star's just crazy for blueberries. She loves 'em; they're her favorite. So yeah, blueberries are Star's other weakness, other than that Earth kid."

Tom brought a flaming hand up and facepalmed in frustration, lost on what to do regarding Star's supposed "weakness" that Ponyhead had told him.

"I think I'll just try something else." Tom muttered.

…

Star quietly stuck her head out of her room, looking both ways down the hall, before sneaking down the hallway towards Marco's room. After her mother's apology (and Star's subsequent refusal to forgive her), she just wanted to talk to Marco about it, and avoid her mother until she knew what to do.

When Star arrived at her boyfriend's room, she quietly knocked on his door, calling to him softly.

"Marco? It's me, Star." She said quietly. Marco was at the door in a second, and he opened the door for her.

"Hey Star, you okay?" Marco asked, immediately noticing her downcast expression.

"I'm not really sure." She admitted. "I kinda wanted to talk to you about it."

Marco wordlessly gestured for her to come inside, and Star did so, sitting on the boy's bed as he limped over and sat next to her, something Star didn't seem to notice, and Marco immediately knew it was something big.

"So, uh… what did your mom want to talk to you about?" Marco asked.

Star exhaled slowly, her eyes brimming with emotion, and Marco considered changing the topic for a second.

"Well, she, uh… she apologised for sending me to St. Olga's."

"That's great, Star." Marco smiled. "I was kinda hoping the two of you would make up."

"That's not all of it." Star said, and Marco silently looked at her, encouraging her to continue. "She also asked me to forgive her. But I refused. I basically told her she'd be lucky _if_ I do eventually forgive her."

Marco listened as Star continued. "I mean, if somebody was murdered, the murderer could say sorry to the victim's family a thousand times, but it would never bring back the victim he killed." She said. "It's the same with me. No matter how many times mom says she's sorry… it won't get rid of those two years of my life I spent in torture and misery."

Star wrapped her arms around Marco, burying her face into his hoodie. "I mean, I can't just let go of what happened that easily, but…" Star took in a shaky breath, leaving her sentence unfinished as she simply sat there.

Admittedly, Marco had no idea what to say. He had zero experience regarding family issues. His biological parents died when he was young and every issue he had with his aunt and uncle were never resolved. In fact, sometimes it seemed like they were actively trying to make more problems. But he had never gotten an apology from his so-called caretakers, so he had no idea how to help Star in this scenario.

"I… I'm sorry, Star. I wish I knew how to help you." He apologized.

"It's fine, Marco." Star reassured him. "I wish I knew what to do."

The moment was interrupted by a polite knock at the door, and Star could already tell it was her mother.

"What is it, mom?" Star asked in a dull voice, letting go of Marco.

The door opened, revealing the queen. "Oh, Star, you're here too. Well, I just came to tell Marco that his training starts tomorrow. You requested we train him in self defense instead of becoming a knight."

"Yeah, I did." Star said, more to herself than her mom. "But Marco's still hurt. I tried healing him but my magic's all messed up."

"When's the last time you tried to use a healing spell?" Moon asked her.

"Yesterday." Star said.

"And when's the last time you actually used one?" She continued.

"About three weeks ago. Why are you asking me this?" Star said, slightly irritated.

"Well, healing spells use a lot of magic and can only be used once every 30 days. Otherwise, they do nothing. Your magic's not messed up, that's just how healing spells work." Moon informed her.

"Oh." Star said, both relieved and disappointed.

Wordlessly, Moon held out a gloved hand as it began to softly glow. After a few seconds, her hand stopped glowing and it fell to her side where it was before. "There. Marco should be all healed up now. Now Star, I'll need you to take Marco to the training grounds tomorrow at noon for his training." Moon said, heading out of the room again.

"Marco, how do you feel?" Star asked immediately, hoping for the best.

"I… I feel the best I've felt since we got to Mewni." Marco smiled, causing Star to giggle happily.

"Oh, I'm so glad, Marco!" Star said, hugging him joyfully and giving him a brief kiss. "I'm so glad you're all healed up." She said, smiling into his shoulder while they hugged. _'Thanks, mom.'_

Marco hugged her back, but when he felt Star tense up slightly, he pulled back, having forgotten about her own injuries.

"Um, are you okay, though?" Marco asked.

"Uh, y-yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Star said, but Marco wasn't entirely convinced.

The two sat there in silence for a moment until a soft thud resounded from somewhere nearby. And although it didn't sound very threatening, it sent Star into a panic as she held out her wand. "Crystal dome bubble shield!" A clear, protective shield formed around Marco, who looked at her in confusion and concern.

"Uh, Star?"

"Marco, that could be Tom sneaking into the castle!" She panicked. "Stay here; I'm gonna go look."

Star quickly left the room, leaving Marco by himself as he felt concerned for his girlfriend and her erratic behavior.

A few minutes later, she came back with a box in her hands, turning off the shield spell she had cast. "It was just the package I ordered from Quest Buy." She admitted, embarrassed.

"Oh. Uh… what's in it?" Marco asked.

Star's nervousness seemed to disappear in an instant as she began to smile again. "It's a present I got for you." She said, opening the box and handing him something. It had no distinguishing features whatsoever except for a single red button on the top.

"What is this?" Marco asked curiously.

"It's an emergency contact device!" Star said proudly. "If you're ever in danger, all you have to do is press that red button, and it'll send me an alert on mine—" Star explained, holding up a matching one that didn't have a button, "—telling me where you are and that you're in danger. I'll even get a message if yours is destroyed, and it works across dimensions. It's foolproof!" Star said, clearly proud of her purchase.

Marco looked at the present Star had bought him, then back at the beaming face of his girlfriend. "Hey, Star?" Marco began.

"Yeah?"

"I know you're concerned about my safety and all, but… don't you think you're being just a little bit… paranoid?" Marco said hesitantly, not wanting to upset her. "I mean, you already got me a different one."

Star's smile fell as she looked off to the side, rubbing her arm. "Well, maybe…" She admitted. "But can you really blame me? How many times have you nearly died since we got here?"

Marco thought for a moment, clearly trying to count just how many near death experiences he's had recently.

Seeing she had gotten his attention, she continued. "I'm scared of losing you, Marco. Yeah, maybe I am being a bit paranoid, but I can't help it." Star sighed. "Just… could you at least promise me you'll keep it with you in your pocket all the time in case something does happen?"

"Yeah, alright." Marco agreed. "I promise."

"Thanks, Marco." Star smiled.

"But what about you, though? You've been in some dangerous… danger… too." Marco said, internally cringing at his choice of words. "What if you're in danger and need to call for help?"

"Well, you can't exactly use magic to defend yourself, unfortunately, and it takes time to learn how to defend yourself; with or without magic." Star explained. "I know I don't have much experience either, but I still have more experience than you do—no offense."

Star wouldn't ever say it out loud, but another reason was because she wasn't confident Marco even would be able to defend her if something did happen. She loved him, but she knew he wasn't very strong, and was also pretty defenseless, which was why she wanted him to be trained in self defense.

"It's okay." Marco said. "And… thanks for looking out for me."

"Of course, Marco."

…

Tom sat at a desk in his castle, staring at the bird-like monster in front of him. "So, your name is Ludo, right?"

"Yes. Why?" Ludo said. "My name is Tom, and I believe we have a common enemy."

Silence.

"And… who would that be?"

"The Butterfly princess." He sighed exasperatedly. "From what I've heard, you know of how she fights, since you've fought her countless times before."

"But that was years ago. And isn't she dead?" Ludo asked. "I showed up to fight her one day, and… nothing. She didn't show up even once and I kept coming for a month."

"No, she's not dead, she just took a 2 year vacation."

"And she didn't even tell me?! Well that's kinda rude—"

"Shut up and listen!" Tom yelled. Ludo closed his mouth, and Tom kept talking. "I called you here to make you a deal. You help me defeat the Butterfly princess and her new friend, and I'll give you whatever you want."

"Would cookies and cream ice cream work? Could I get that?"

"No wonder you kept losing, you're a total joke." Tom muttered under his breath, quiet enough so that Ludo couldn't hear him. "Fine, yes. You help me and I'll get you all the ice cream you could ever want." Tom said. "But you need training. I can already tell that, apart from knowing how Star fights, you don't have any useful experience—"

"Hey!"

"—so I'm going to train you to fight." Tom finished, ignoring Ludo's interruption. "Together, we will crush the enemy, and I'll finally get what I rightfully deserve! Now folow me."

Tom led Ludo out of the castle and over to a boat made out of obsidian, floating in a sea of lava. Ludo became hesitant.

"Um, are you sure that's safe? I mean, I'm not exactly lava proof." Ludo said apprehensively.

"It's fine. Just get in the boat!" Tom told him.

"But-but I get seasick!" Ludo lied. "I can't train if I get seasick, can I?"

"Oh wow, you're seasick?" Tom said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Wow, that changes everything. I suppose maybe we can just- _get in the boat!_ "

"No! I don't want to get in the boat. I've changed my mind!" Ludo panicked. "I don't want the ice cream anymore!"

"GET IN THE BOAT!" Tom yelled, pushing the bird towards the obsidian boat.

"Help! Help! Hostage taking! Kidnapping!" Ludo yelled, as Tom finally got him into the boat and rowed them out onto the lava before he could leave.

"Stop being such a coward!"

…

As Toffee watched these events unfold through his spying mirror, with slight amusement at Ludo's cowardly behavior, he heard a knock at the door.

"What is it, Buff Frog? I'm busy."

The door opened, and Buff Frog walked in, closing the door behind him. "Sorry to interrupt, but I thought you might want to know this."

Buff Frog handed Toffee a spy camera with some footage showing Marco in the castle training grounds, being taught self defense while Star watched from the side.

"The boy is learning some self defense from castle guards. In time, he will be stronger and more resistant to attacks from fire boy." Buff Frog explained.

Toffee smiled. "Excellent work, Buff Frog. Unfortunately, the boy may not have enough strength by the time he needs it. 'Fire boy' has a new recruit to help him in his own twisted plans, and is setting off to train him as well." Toffee looked back at his spy mirror, showing Ludo panicking every time an ember rose from the lava and got close. "Then again, he chose his new recruit poorly, so it may not be an issue. Focus your spying on the demon, and report to me if you find any suspicious activity."

"Yes, Master Toffee." Buff Frog saluted, leaving the room. Toffee looked back at the spy mirror in front of him.


	18. The Battle Begins

**Chapter 18: The Battle Begins**

For the past two weeks, Marco had been going to his self defense class, taught by the best knight in Mewni. He was a fast learner, much to Star's delight, although it was clear he still had a while to go.

"Great work, kiddo. You did much better than I thought you would. See you tomorrow." The knight waved goodbye to Marco, as him and Star left the training grounds for the day.

"Thank you, Sir Stabby." Star called back, as the knight nodded his head in acknowledgement, before Star turned back to her boyfriend. "I'm so proud of you, Marco! You're an amazing learner!"

Marco blushed a little, shyly averting his eyes. "Well, I'm not _that_ great…"

"Oh come on, Marco, give yourself some credit. You managed to hold your own in a sparring match with Mewni's greatest knight!" Star praised.

"Yeah, for about 20 seconds."

"Well, those twenty seconds are all that matters to me." Star told him, bringing him in for a hug, which he gladly returned. "I'm just glad you can defend yourself. I feel a lot better knowing you're not completely helpless like you used to be… no offense."

"Well… yeah, I guess you're right." Marco said.

"Hey, why don't we go out for some pie?" Star suggested. "You know, to celebrate tour progress."

"That sounds pretty good, actually." Marco agreed. "Pie sounds like a great idea, Star." Marco's smile faded slightly though as he recalled a distant memory.

 _"What flavor of pie would you like, Mariposa?"_

 _"Umm… I want pumpkin pie." Mariposa answered. "Thanks, mom!"_

 _"How about you, Marco? What flavor of pie would you like?" Marco stood in silence, looking over the various flavors of pie next to his sister. "Marco?"_

"Marco, you okay?" Star asked.

Marco paused for a moment, clearing the memory from his mind.

"Are you alright, Marco? You kinda spaced out for a moment." Star said, concerned. "Did I… accidentally trigger a bad memory?"

"Uh, well… kinda." Marco admitted.

"Do you… wanna talk about it?" Star asked hesitantly.

"Mmm… maybe later." Marco said, shyly averting his eyes.

"That's fine." Star said, giving Marco a quick peck on the cheek, causing him to blush. "I'll always be here if you wanna talk about it."

"Thanks; I-I appreciate it." Marco said, still blushing. "I promise I'll tell you when I'm ready."

"Star, Marco, could you come here for a second?" Queen moon asked.

"Uh, sure, I guess." Marco shrugged, slightly confused as to why she wanted both of them. Moon headed towards the throne room, and the two teens followed, holding hands as the queen sat on her throne.

"You two are… in a relationship, yes?" Moon questioned.

Star felt that it was pretty obvious, but she wisely kept her snide remark to herself. "Yes." She answered simply.

"Well, as your sixteenth birthday is approaching, the other nobles are pressuring me in finding you a prince, but if the princess is already in a relationship, it's not necessary." Moon stated. "However, they still wish to meet with your chosen prince."

Star grew nervous. "But what if they don't like Marco?" She asked nervously. "What if they say something mean to him? Or try to hurt him?!"

"They… they would do that?" Marco asked, suddenly very hesitant to meet these other nobles that his girlfriend and her mother were talking about.

"Marco, have you ever noticed that you've never seen my dad around here?" Star said. "Those other nobles barely tolerated him, and that was just because they didn't like his personality. Then he disappeared after they called him in for a private meeting!"

"Star, if you're insinuating the other nobles killed your father, that's not true. He was just blindsided by a Mewnian wolf bear." Moon said.

"I know how he died, and I am positive the nobles were behind it!" Star insisted. "Especially Aunt Etheria! Her and dad never got along."

"Well, regardless, it's a necessary formality that your chosen is introduced to the other nobles. I had to do the same thing when I was your age and dating your father."

"Ugh. Fine. When do we go introduce him?" Star asked.

"Marco is to meet the other nobles in an hour. And no, you aren't allowed to go with him." Moon said.

Star groaned. "Why not?"

"It's so that the nobles can make their best judgement." Moon explained. "And besides, we all know how defensive you can get sometimes."

Star groaned, not too happy about Marco having to face the other nobles alone.

"If it makes you feel any better Star, I'm not allowed to accompany him in there either for the same reason." She said.

"You're the queen. Can't you change that?" Star asked.

"No, I can't. Laws regarding nobility are much harder to change than laws regarding the kingdom as a whole." Moon explained. "This is just the way things are."

…

Tom sighed in frustration as, once again, Ludo had failed to complete the simple task in his daily training: defeating a hologram built for combat practice… set at the easiest difficulty level.

" _Challenger defeated; level 1 lose! Do you wish to battle again?_ " The hologram stated out robotically.

"I don't get it! I'm doing everything you told me to do. Why am I still losing?!" Ludo complained, laying on the ground.

"Now I know why you always lost to a 10-year-old girl a few years ago." Tom muttered quietly. "I know she was taught how to fight, but still." He sighed, before turning back to the small bird-like creature. "Ludo, it's not that hard. We were supposed to be winning in battle at Butterfly Castle tomorrow, but you clearly need at least a year of training!"

"I'm beginning to question if this is even worth the ice cream." Ludo said.

"I didn't wanna do this, but you leave me no choice. We have to go to the Neverzone." Tom said.

Ludo picked himself up off the ground from being defeated, looking at Tom inquisitively. "The Neverzone?"

"Yes." Tom answered. "One year in the Neverzone translates to a mere thirty seconds on Mewni, or almost three millenia there for every day here. So that's where we're going to train you up for battle." The hotheaded teen tore open a portal with his dimensional scissors, dragging Ludo through it, before it collaped shut.

About two minutes later, the portal opened up again, and the two walked back out covered in armor.

"You know what, I think I've gotten the hang of this stuff now!" Ludo boasted, holding his new sword up.

"Well, it's about freaking time." Tom grumbled, before grinning wickedly. "Star Butterfly, I'm coming for you, and there's nothing you can do to stop me this time." Tom cackled wickedly, eager to finally enact his plan that he worked so hard on. He had every intention of winning, and he wasn't about to let a magical princess' spells get in the way this time. He did some training of his own, and was prepared for every spell the princess could throw his way.

"Ludo, change of plans. We attack Butterfly Castle… _now_." Tom announced.

Needless to say he was feeling very confident in his plan.

…

Marco nervously sat in front of a small group of nobles, many of which glared skeptically at the shy boy in front of them.

"Tell me young lad, what is your name?" An older lady questioned. Based on what Star had told him, this older lady was her great aunt Etheria, and she was essentially the head of the other nobles, excepting the queen herself.

"M-Marco."

"Marco." Etheria said. "Where are you from?"

"I-I'm from Earth… m-ma'am." He stuttered.

"Hm. Earth." She said flatly. "How many properties do you own on 'Earth'?"

"Um… n-none." Marco answered.

Etheria narrowed her eyes. "How many subjects do you have?"

"I… don't have any." He hesitated.

"How much money do you have?"

"Um… none."

"And where did you get the gall to court the princess of Mewni when you have nothing to your name?" Etheria questioned harshly.

"Uh… I have love?"

Etheria narrowed her eyes further. "Unacceptable. Commonfolk such as yourself should not be courting a princess; much less a Butterfly." She admonished. "You have nothing to your name; no properties, no money, and no subjects. You're no prince and you never will be. The princess will come to her senses soon enough and court a _real_ prince."

"I-I'm sorry?" He squeaked out.

"Go back to the hole you crawled out of, _peasant_." She spat. "You will not be courting the princess and soiling the royal family bloodline."

Marco reluctantly obliged, leaving the room as he struggled to hold back the tears that were building up as he trudged to his room.

Once in his room, he flopped onto the bed, sighing. "They're right. I don't have anything I could give her." He groaned. "I wonder why she picked me in the first place? I'm not exactly a happy person to be around all the time."

"Then I guess it wouldn't matter if I killed you."

Marco sat up suddenly, total shock filling his body as he saw Tom standing there in a suit of armor. "Well, well, well. We meet again, Diaz." Tom spat.

Panic filled Marco as he quickly dove under his bed, rummaging around for a bit before clumsily pulling out the sword he had been given for his training.

"D-d-don't come any c-closer, or I-I'll-I'll… hurt you!" He threatened weakly, his hands visibly trembling as he gripped the sword.

Tom stopped for a moment, surprised, before he burst out laughing. "You really think you could take _me_?! That's priceless!" He cackled, then suddenly regained his composure. "You don't stand a chance, even with that flimsy sword of yours." Tom pulled out his own sword, which was glowing with flames, causing Marco to instinctively take a step back.

Tom snickered, relishing in the fear in the boy's eyes, ready to end the pest once and for all. He drew his sword back and swung, but was surprised when his opponent managed to actually dodge the hit. Marco attempted a swing with his own weapon and Tom, in his surprise in his victim actually fighting back, didn't notice the blade heading right for him until it connected with his side.

"Argh! Why you little…" Tom swung his sword at Marco again, who held out his own sword to block the hit, only for it to be cut clean in half by Tom's own weapon, causing the blade to fall uselessly to the ground.

"I told you… you don't stand a chance." Tom laughed cruelly. Marco dropped the hilt of his broken sword to the ground, backing up from his enraged opponent. He fumbled around in his pocket for one of the emergency devices Star had given him and pulled it out, pressing the button. At first, it didn't seem like anything happened, so he rapidly pressed the button several times before Tom snatched it out of his hands and broke it.

"Nothing can save you from me this time." Tom sneered, striking Marco in the shoulder with the enchanted sword, creating a deep gash and lighting his hoodie on fire. He screamed in panic and agony, blowing on the flame to put it out, but it only seemed to make it worse.

Suddenly, a blast of magic hit him, extinguishing the fire and cooling off his whole body. Another blast of magic hit Tom, knocking him back as he flew through the wall, creating a large hole that exposed Marco's room to the outside weather. Star rushed over to Marco, hugging him tight.

"Marco! I got your distress signal! Are you okay?!" She asked, before she spotted his broken sword laying on the floor. "How much of a fight did you put up?"

"I… I hit him once before he broke it." Marco replied.

Star smiled, about to congratulate him on it, until Tom flew up to the new hole in the wall, blasting a large fireball at them both. Star barely managed to summon a shield with her wand in time as the flaming ball slammed against the shield, breaking it into pieces immediately.

It was pretty obvious that Tom had realized that with Star there to protect him, killing Marco would be much harder. He went all out, blasting a steady stream of fire at them both. Star immediately put all of her effort into summoning another shield and holding it up, though it quickly began to take its toll on her as she began sweating from the effort.

"Marco, get out of here, now. I'll hold him off." Star told him.

"What? I'm not leaving you behind." Marco insisted.

"Yes, you are." Star insisted more strongly. "My dimensional scissors are in my pocket. Take them, open a portal, and get out of here before he kills you."

Tom stopped spewing fire at them suddenly, and used his ferrokinesis to ignite the floor on fire under them. Star dropped her shield and fled, pulling Marco with her as they both ran out of the boy's room, and Star used her wand to extinguish the flames that were licking up her boots and Marco's shoes. They ran through the hallways and Star pulled Marco into a broom closet with her, and the two paused for a moment to catch their breath.

Star pulled her scissors out of her pocket, pushing them into Marco's hands. "Star, what-?"

"Marco, take these dimensional scissors and get out of here! Tom's here for _me_ specifically. He wants me under his control and he sees you as an obstacle." Star explained. "I'm going to give myself up. I'm what he wants. If he has me, he _might_ stop trying to kill you, but you need to get out of here so you'll be safe."

"Star, you can't give yourself up for me. You're a princess. You have an entire kingdom you're going to rule someday! I'm… I'm just a nobody. I don't have any properties or money or wealth—"

"Wealth and money are the same thing, Marco. And who filled you up with those ridiculous ideas in the first place?" Star said.

"The… the other nobles." Marco answered.

"Well they're wrong! I don't give a crap about what they have to say if it's anything negative about you. You're an amazing person and nothing that anyone can ever say will change that!" She told him. "Besides, who cares if I'm a princess?! You're worth it to me, and that's all that matters! You've been through so much and I'm not going to let you die to some murderous demon because of me, so you have to take my scissors and get out of here!"

"No!" Marco shouted, startling her. "I'm not gonna let you give yourself up just because it'll keep me safe! You mean everything to me too, and that's why I _won't_ let you give up! We're a team, and ever since we met, we've been getting through everything together, even if it seemed impossible! We haven't even fought him that much and you're already just giving up? Well I won't let you! We're fighting him together Star, for better or for worse."

"It's the 'worse' part that scares me," Star admitted, "but you're right. We can still beat him. I hope. We just have to try."

"That's the spirit." Marco encouraged her. "Are you ready to take him on together?"

"No, not really." She admitted. "But let's do it anyway."


	19. The Final Battle

**Chapter 19: The Final Battle**

"Ludo, come in! Where are you?!" Tom said into a radio, as he roamed around Butterfly castle.

"Um, Ludo here." The bird-like monster said from the other end. "As for where I am…"

"I already found and fought the boy and tried to capture the girl. You were supposed to attack them from behind while I had them busy, but they both escaped! Where have you been?!"

"Um, well, you see…"

"Spit it out!" Tom demanded.

"The guards caught me and threw me in the dungeon." He finished. There was a brief pause before Tom replied.

"Even with all that training we did in the Neverzone… you're still the same incompetent buffoon from before." He sighed in frustration. "Fine. I'll break you out. But I'm getting very impatient, Ludo! Mess up again and you're on your own!"

Tom put away the radio and used his dimensional scissors to open a portal into Ludo's dungeon cell, and the short bird monster stepped through shortly after.

"Now come on! The princess and the Earth wimp are hiding somewhere and we need to find them." Tom said.

"Um, if I may ask… why do you want the princess so much?" Ludo asked hesitantly.

"Because she broke up with me! I don't care that she's afraid of her parents sending her to some boarding school because of it. And she also called me manipulative! She will be mine and no one else's!"

Suddenly Tom heard a door open and close, and he turned towards the noise to see the princess and her boyfriend running out of a broom closet and down the hall. "There they are! After them!" Tom shouted.

…

"Where are we going again?" Marco asked, panting, as he ran beside Star while they fled from Tom.

"Outside the castle. Anywhere outside. We just need a more open area." Star explained.

"Okay, then what?"

"I… actually don't really know what to do when we get there. I don't really have a plan." Star admitted. "I'm just trying whatever comes to my mind at the moment."

As they reached the doors to the garden, Star slammed them open, panting breathlessly as the two of them ran to the most open area in the garden. They weren't really sure what they were gonna do once they did get there, but at the very least Tom couldn't corner them out there.

They stopped in the middle of a grassy field (Star had no idea why there was an empty field in the gardens), and as Tom approached them, Star noticed for the first time that he wasn't alone. Her old archnemesis Ludo was there with him, although if she was being honest, she wasn't worried about him whatsoever. Marco, on the other hand, looked at the short monster with concern, worried about how difficult it would be to deal with him as well as Tom.

"Star, what do we do?" Marco asked.

"Don't worry, Ludo's a pushover." Star said. "As for Tom, well… I'm not sure." She admitted.

Suddenly, Tom shot a fireball above their heads, catching their attention. "No more running, Star! Come with me and be my queen or I'll kill the boy and force you to!"

At the threat of him killing Marco, Star tightened the grip on her wand, feeling the need to protect him at all costs.

"You take Ludo, I'll fight Tom." Star told him simply.

"B-but, but—"

"Don't worry Marco, I believe in you. I know you can handle him no problem." Star assured him.

Tom growled as his impatience got the better of him, and he threw another fireball, this time aimed directly at Marco. Star countered it easily with a blast of ice from her wand.

"You leave Marco alone, Tom!" She yelled. "And I'm not going back with you, ever!"

"I will make you mine, _princess_." He spat. "No matter what! Then I'll kill your little boyfriend, just for fun!"

Star's fury rose to a peak as she aimed her wand at Tom and yelled, "Super blackberry death blast!" A magical blast of blackberries hurtled directly at Tom, but he easily dodged the blast.

"You're gonna regret that." Tom growled darkly.

Meanwhile, Marco and Ludo had begun fighting as well, and between Marco's two weeks of training versus Ludo's four years, they were about evenly matched. Even though Ludo had a sword with him, Marco was surprisingly agile and had managed to dodge every attack so far. However, without a weapon of his own to fight back with, the boy was limited to only punches and kicks, which usually landed but did minimal damage.

After Marco had landed a lucky punch directly to his face, Ludo swung his sword at the boy again out of desperation, and this time he managed to slice through Marco's pants and leave a sizeable gash on his leg. He then quickly swung the sword again, landing another direct hit and cutting deep. Marco cried out in pain, causing Star to look his way, yelling his name when she saw him on the ground holding his leg just above his knee.

At first, Star had believed that the threat Ludo posed was small enough that Marco could easily handle him, but at even the slightest sign that he was hurt, Star just reacted. She fired a blast of magic at the small bird like monster, throwing him back several feet and across the ground. However, this distraction was enough for Tom to catch her off guard, and he threw a fireball directly at the back of her head.

The next thing Marco knew, Star's unconscious form had collapsed onto the grass just a few feet in front of him.

"Star!" He called out, crawling over to her. As he reached her, he pulled her into his arms, holding her protectively.

"Well, isn't this cute." Tom said condescendingly. "You seem to think you could actually protect her, when we both know you can't." Tom turned towards Ludo standing next to him, who had a smug grin plastered on his face. "Ludo! Kill the boy and take the princess."

Ludo's grin vanished and turned into an uneasy frown. "Wait… kill him?"

"Yes, kill him!" Tom fumed. "I don't care how you do it. Just get rid of him!"

Ludo hesitated for a moment. "No." He said.

"What?!"

"I said no. I'm not comfortable with killing anyone, much less an innocent kid." Ludo told him. "I may be evil, but I have standards."

"Fine, then." Tom said, picking up the bird-like creature by his head. "I'll do it myself!" And with that, Tom threw him as hard as he could into the nearby forest as he screamed the whole way.

When Tom turned back, he saw that Marco had taken advantage of the distraction and was trying to take Star back to the castle, though his injury was prohibiting his movement considerably. Tom wouldn't allow it, so he flew over to them, easily catching up to the pair, causing Marco to stop where he was.

"Alright, kid, listen up. If you give me Star, I'll let you live. If not, I'll kill you and take her anyway." He offered. "If you're smart, you'll hand her over."

"No! I won't give her to you, no matter what." Marco said, surprisingly determined for someone who was in an obvious losing scenario.

"Fine then. Have it your way." He said. Tom grabbed Star's arm and yanked her out of Marco's grip, tossing her to the grass behind him as he summoned a coffin around Marco that began to slowly close in on him. "Have fun being crushed to death!" He laughed, knowing that victory was finally his. Marco tried frantically to push on the sides to escape, but it was useless. It just kept closing in on him and he was certain he was gonna die.

Suddenly, at the very last second, something hit Tom and caused him to lose focus, freeing Marco from the death trap as the coffin vanished, leaving Marco to fall to the ground. He looked up and saw Toffee standing between him and Tom with a menacing glare directed at the confused and furious demon.

"Pathetic." He sneered. "Attacking a defenseless child just for the satisfaction of killing him."

"What the-? Who are you?!" Tom demanded.

"You mean you don't recognise me?" He scoffed, as though it should be obvious.

"All I know is you're standing between me and what I deserve, so either you move, or you die."

Toffee said nothing as he approached Tom, stopping a few feet in front of him, then swept his feet out from under him with his tail.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Tom demanded.

"Why, I'm giving you what you deserve. That is what you want, isn't it?" Toffee smirked.

In a fury, Tom flew upwards and charged up a large fireball, before hurling it directly at the lizard, who made no effort to dodge it. It landed a direct hit, but when the smoke cleared, the only damage that was done was to his suit.

"Hm. That was my favorite suit." Toffee muttered indifferently, glancing at the burnt fabric.

Taken aback, Tom took a different approach as he flew directly at Toffee, punching straight through his chest with a flaming fist, and smirked in satisfaction.

The smirk fell when Toffee simply pulled the arm out of him, and the hole in his chest quickly regenerated, until the only sign it had happened at all was a hole in his suit.

"Wh-What the-?! Who are you?!" Tom questioned, visibly frightened.

"Didn't you already ask me that?" Toffee pointed out, before answering; "My name is Toffee." He then lunged at Tom and landed a direct hit to his face.

…

Meanwhile, Marco was limping over to Star's unconscious body, trying desperately to reach her so he could know she was okay. Although if he was being honest, Marco had no idea if she was okay or not. As he finally reached her, he saw that she was bleeding from the back of her head. There was also a burnt patch of hair around the blood, and Marco quickly blew out the small embers that were still burning some strands of her hair.

"Star?" He whispered, not sure if she could hear him, but he continued even so. "I've got you, okay? I… I know I'm not very strong, a-and I think my leg might be broken, but… I promise that I'll do everything I can to keep you safe."

"T-that's… what I'm s-supposed to do."

Star shifted in his arms, turning herself so she could look into his eyes, and Marco noticed she was struggling to even keep her eyes open. She was obviously in a lot of pain, and she looked like she could slip back into unconsciousness at any second, but she managed to hold on anyway.

"Star?" Marco said softly.

"I-I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect you better, Marco." Star apologised.

"Star, you've saved me from dying so many times already. You've already done more than anyone else ever has."

"B-but what about Tom?"

"Well, Toffee's fighting him right now, so I think we're safe?" Marco said with uncertainty. The two glanced over at the lizard and demon fighting each other, and at the look Toffee had on his face as he landed blow after blow on his opponent, the two couldn't suppress a shudder running down their spines, despite the fact that he was defending them. Suddenly the pair heard some flapping behind them, and watched in awe as Queen Moon, in full Butterfly form, rushed over and began fighting Tom as well, casting several offensive spells to fight, although she was clearly tense from seeing Toffee for some reason.

The desperation on Tom's face was clear as day. Every hit he landed was rendered useless as Toffee just regenerated anyway. And now out of nowhere, the Queen herself was fighting him as well. Clearly, if things kept going at this rate, he would lose yet again, or perhaps even get killed. He remembered a spell that he could cast as a last ditch effort, but he needed room to do so.

Feigning defeat, he flew off into the Forest of Certain Death, to the confusion of everyone present, until he was out of sight, and began to cast the spell. It was an instant killer, but it required a lot of energy to cast, and once he finished charging it up, he knew he wouldn't be going down without taking at least one other person with him, and he knew exactly who he wanted to kill.

Everyone was startled when a beam shot out of the forest. It was black in color; so black that it looked like the area it tore through temporarily ceased to exist. Star and Marco's faces paled when they realized it was headed directly towards Marco, but right before it could hit him, Queen Moon put herself in the way, and once it hit her, she immediately began turning into ash.

"M-mom…" Star choked out, unable to manage saying anything else, as tears ran down her face.

"Star, I love you, and I'm sorry I wasn't a better mother for you." She said. Most of her body had already turned into ash, and within seconds, she would be gone completely. There would be no long goodbyes, she had to make it fast.

"I-I… I forgive you, mom. A-and… I love you too." Star said. Moon was able to manage one last smile, before what was left was destroyed as well, leaving a pile of ash where the once powerful queen stood. Star broke down into tears, hugging Marco for support, although he was shocked and in tears as well. Even Toffee stood there speechless, excusing himself as he headed off into the woods.

Tom knelt on the forest floor, exhausted and angry. Even his last ditch effort to get at least some satisfaction had been ruined; the queen making a heroic sacrifice to save the boy from being killed off. Through his hazy vision, he saw the lizard Toffee approaching him with an unreadable expression.

"I'll admit; your determination to get what you want is impressive. It's a shame that what you want is among the lowest of evil."

"So… what? You're here to finish me off? Kick me while I'm down?" Tom panted, unable to even stand up. "Where's the fun in that?"

"I believe our battle earlier has provided me with all the 'fun' I need." Toffee stated, drawing his sword once more. Try as he might, Tom knew he had no chance of escape. It still made him furious that he couldn't even win with all his training in the Neverzone.

As Toffee ran his sword through Tom's body over and over again, his final, dying thought was that he was still mad he was never able to kill that Earth boy.

* * *

 **S** **orry for the excruciatingly long wait. The final chapter is next, and I'm going to do everything in my power to actually release it at a reasonable time.**


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